Bengaluru: DGGI uncovers Rs 3,200 cr GST fraud, two held
Bengaluru, Jan 29 (PTI): The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) in Bengaluru has uncovered a massive GST fraud amounting to Rs 3,200 crore and arrested two people in connection with the case.
A third suspect remains at large, Sucheta Sreejesh, Additional Director General of DGGI Bengaluru zone, said in a statement.
The DGGI’s Bengaluru zonal unit conducted searches at more than 30 locations across Bengaluru and Mumbai, uncovering a complex scam.
The accused created bogus companies with no legitimate business operations, engaged in circular trading to inflate turnover, listed these companies on stock exchanges, and facilitated the fraudulent availing and passing of fake Input Tax Credit totaling Rs 665 crore.
“The total value of fake invoices involved in the scam amounts to over Rs 3,200 crore,” she said.
The investigation uncovered 15 dubious companies with no actual business activity. These firms reported receiving FMCG goods worth hundreds of crores, but only issued invoices for services like IT support, management consultancy, and advertising.
Despite a large number of inward e-way bills, none of the companies had any outward e-way bills. Nine of these companies are even listed on Indian stock exchanges, according to officials.
“Investigation indicates that promoters of such dubious companies resorted to circular trading of fake invoices to inflate turnover, increase the share price, sell the shares subsequently and exit the company, duping common public of their money invested in shares of such companies,” the statement said.
The probe also revealed that GST returns for most of these companies were filed from common IP addresses, suggesting that they were all operated by the same accused.
Further searches at the companies' premises uncovered original documents such as invoices and financial records, stored across several locations, indicating that the same individuals were managing the affairs of multiple companies.
“Considering the magnitude of the fraud and its impact on the common public, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Bengaluru Zonal Unit has initiated thorough investigation in the matter,” Sreejesh said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
