The Gujarat state Goods and Services Tax (SGST) department on Sunday made a major breakthrough with the arrest of the mastermind in the Rs 739.29 crore bogus billing scam. Mohammad Abbas ShabbirAli Savjani alias MM was arrested from SG Highway, Ahmedabad. A total of ten GST officials were involved in the investigation. As of now, the department has recovered more than Rs 60 crores of unaccounted amount.
The police received a tip-off about Meghani’s whereabouts following which they laid a siege to arrest him. Milind Kavatkar, Additional Commissioner of Enforcement said, “He has been involved in GST since 2017. He formed 112 bogus companies to date–SGST department has identified 32 of them. More than 10 people have already been arrested in this matter. Mohammad is a 10th pass middle-aged man. He must have a financial advisor who helps me identify the fault lines.”
Modus Operandi
For years, Mohammad followed the modus operandi of using illiterate and poor people’s identity proofs for GST registrations. “GST filing and registration is easy and we have automated the whole process. Mohammad misused this and created bogus billing. Through this process, he generated 1639 beneficiaries.”
To avoid misuse of GST registration and its seamless process, the SGST department has made it stricter to get GST registration. “In 99% of the cases, we have made it mandatory for our officials to physically examine the office before giving the GST registration number.”
Mohammad Tata will be presented in the Metropolitan Magistrates’ Courts, Ahmedabad. Further investigation into the matter of fake GST billing is still on.
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