Officers of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Visakhapatnam Zonal Unit, have arrested a GST consultant in Vijayawada for his involvement in a large-scale fake invoice racket amounting to Rs 42.73 crore. The fraudulent activity resulted in a massive GST evasion of Rs 6.51 crore.
According to officials, the accused misused the GST portal credentials entrusted to him by his clients for filing returns. Instead of genuine transactions, he generated fake invoices in their names without any actual supply of goods, manipulated GST returns, and fraudulently passed on Input Tax Credit (ITC) to a scrap dealer based in Tamil Nadu.
The consultant was arrested under Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017, and was presented before the Special Judge for Economic Offences Court, Visakhapatnam, which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. Authorities are continuing the investigation to track down other possible beneficiaries of the fraudulent ITC transactions.
This case underscores the growing crackdown by the GST department on fake invoice scams, which have been a major source of tax evasion in India. Businesses are advised to remain vigilant while engaging third-party consultants for tax compliance.
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