The Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Mumbai Zone has busted two major fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) rackets during the “Second Special All-India Drive Against Fake Registrations” in Thane and Palghar districts of Maharashtra. The operations uncovered fraudulent ITC claims amounting to ₹140 crore, facilitated through fake invoices totaling ₹760 crore. Two individuals have been arrested for defrauding the government exchequer.

An official stated that, after extensive search operations and investigations, it was found that the masterminds behind the two rackets had created 92 dubious firms to fraudulently claim ITC by generating fake invoices, with the intent of passing on these fraudulent ITC credits to recipients without any actual movement of goods or services.

In the first case, the Thane CGST Commissionerate arrested a key player who registered 22 non-genuine firms. This individual has been remanded to 14 days in judicial custody for availing fraudulent ITC of ₹48 crore and passing on ITC worth ₹44 crore, totalling ₹92 crore, without any actual movement of goods or services. The suspect misused KYC documents, including Aadhaar and PAN cards of others, for GST registrations and opening bank accounts.

In the second case, the Palghar CGST Commissionerate uncovered a racket involving fake invoices worth ₹320 crore, without the actual supply of goods or services. This scheme aimed to avail fraudulent ITC of ₹22 crore and pass on ₹26 crore in fake ITC, totalling ₹48 crore, using 70 shell firms. The kingpin, Ashok Harilal Oza, has been arrested and remanded to 13 days in judicial custody.