Aftab Memon, a man impersonating a Chartered Accountant, was arrested on Friday for defrauding a South Mumbai businessman of Rs 1.3 crore. Memon, who posed as a GST registration specialist, took the funds from BMC contractor Jay Dhani to open GST accounts for his company. Instead, he allegedly used Dhani's KYC documents to create fictitious companies and issue counterfeit invoices, officials from the Colaba police station reported.
"Memon diverted the funds meant for GST payments into his own accounts, causing a Rs 1.3 crore loss to the exchequer," an officer stated. Memon faces charges under IPC sections for cheating, forgery, breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, and Section 74 of the GST Act. He has been remanded to police custody.
The fraud was uncovered on April 19 when Dhani received notices from the state GST department about a default payment of Rs 1.5 crore. Dhani had initially engaged Memon for GST registration and management. However, Memon manipulated the registration process, using a timber merchant's contact details instead of Dhani's.
Dhani, who trusted Memon based on his supposed professional credentials, only discovered the fraud after noticing discrepancies in his financial records. The FIR reveals that Memon exploited his access to Dhani's GST portals, using OTPs and sensitive information to fabricate GST certificates and mislead Dhani about his tax obligations.
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