BELAGAVI: In a significant crackdown, Central Goods and Service Tax (GST) Excise officers in Belagavi have unearthed a massive fraud amounting to Rs 132 crore. The operation led to the arrest of Nakeeb Najeeb Mulla, the owner of fake company Federal Logistics. Chief Commissioner of GST, Dinesh Pangarakar, addressed the media in Belagavi revealing that the fraud encompassed Rs 23.82 crore of fake input tax credit.
Nakeeb Najeeb Mulla had been orchestrating a sophisticated scam involving the issuance of counterfeit GST invoices. The modus operandi included collecting money from customers and issuing fake invoices to claim input tax credits, all while failing to remit the collected GST to the appropriate authorities. The investigation further revealed that Federal Logistics, the company purportedly owned by Mulla, was itself a sham entity. This fictitious company was used to issue returns and offer other GST-related services to multiple businesses.
The authorities acted upon a complaint filed by a customer, leading to a comprehensive operation that culminated in Mulla’s arrest. The case against Mulla has been registered under the provisions of Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2024. The second JMFC Court of Belagavi has since ordered the remand of the accused for 14 days.
Chief Commissioner Pangarakar emphasised the magnitude of the fraud and the meticulous efforts of the GST officers in uncovering the scheme. “The accused working as charted accountant collected money from customers and manipulated input tax credits through fake invoices without making any payments to the GST office. The investigation confirmed that Federal Logistics was a fraudulent entity, and Nakeeb Mulla had been deceiving numerous companies through his fictitious operations,” he stated.
Followed by detection of fraud bills the GST officials field a police complaint who registered a case and arrested the fraudster.
