Visakhapatnam: Officers of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Visakhapatnam zonal unit, have unearthed a network involved in fraudulent involvement and passing on of Input Tax Credit (ITC) on the strength of invoices, without any corresponding supply of goods or services, through multiple dummy entities.

The investigation so far quantified the total fraudulent ITC availed at Rs 27.07 crore and ITC passed on at Rs 15.30 crore. Based on the investigation, Mallikarjuna Manoj Kumar has been identified as the controller/operator of the said network.

He admitted that transactions were carried out as per his directions and that the entities functioned solely for passing on ITC without real business operations or actual supply.

Also, financial analysis revealed structured diversion and layering of funds linked to the network, indicating planned routing and circulation of funds through multiple corridors. The network operated multiple dummy/invoice-only GST entities to obtain and issue tax invoices without any underlying supply by falsely showing works contract services, manpower supply and construction materials.

The GST officials informed that the accused Mallikarjuna Manoj Kumar was arrested for committing offences under various sections.

Notably, this is the fourth arrest made by DGGI, Visakhapatnam zonal unit during the current financial year, underscoring its sustained and focused enforcement against GST evasion and fake ITC frauds.