How conman used power bill of Pakistan’s Hyderabad to cheat Indian govt Rs 10 Cr?

Hyderabad: A GST fraudster cheated the government of Rs 10 crore by filing fake bills of Abid’s famous `Gavin’s Clothing showroom’. What added another dimension to the fraud was that the man, who is on the run, photoshopped the electricity bill of Pakistan’s Hyderabad and showed it as India’s Hyderabad.

A fake bill is usually an invoice raised by a particular company, entity, or business without any supply of goods or services or any payment to GST, to cheat the government.

How did it all happen?

In the usual procedure, while filing invoices, the businessman or woman has to submit an address proof besides the name of the company, goods, and their worth besides the amount to be claimed. Conman used the pseudonym Prakash Rathod to fudge the electricity bill of Pakistan’s Hyderabad and submitted it as the address of Gavin Corner, 5-9-210, Chirag Ali Lane, Abids- Hyderabad, Telangana 500011.

The apostrophe `s’ in the bill helped the sleuths to detect fraud. The firm name was not Gavins but Gavin’s enterprise and this small error was enough to bust the fraud. Following Intelligence inputs the sleuths of the Director General of GST Intelligence- Hyderabad carried out a reece at Abid’s famous Gavins clothing showroom.

An officer speaking to NewsMeter said, “The GST of Rs 10 Crores was claimed on the ghost name of Prakash Rathod on the address of Gavin’s Enterprises in Abids by producing a forged electricity bill. During a reece it was found that Gavin clothing showroom is reportedly owned by a Jain family and they had already claimed GST and the record correct”.

However, this fake invoice of Rs 10 crore was filed in the name of Gavin’s enterprises (nonexistent) in Abids having morphed electricity bills which were Pakistan’s Hyderabad.

The sleuths then recorded the statement of the owner and issued a summon to the email address while submitting the invoices. “We have already issued alerts to other GST-intelligence wing where this person have claimed GST” the officer added.

Rs 3000 crore fake invoices scam in Hyderabad

Since the inception of Goods and Service Tax, the sleuths of GST intelligence have dealt with fake invoices cases worth Rs 3000 crores in Hyderabad alone.

“It is an organized fraud to cheat the government of crores. Once the fake invoices are submitted, the transactions take a month to process. When the money gets credited to the bank, the fraudster withdraws all of that and disappears. Fake invoices are raised on multiple suppliers, and many at times fly by night companies. The majority of scams take place in the manufacturing and construction sectors. However the fraud is identified after the money is credited to the bank accounts and by then the violators disappear,” a senior GST Officer in Hyderabad told NewsMeter.