The Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax (MGST) department has arrested Salman Jamal Shah, the operator of a Kurla-based company that turned out to be bogus, for masterminding a fraudulent tax scheme. Shah allegedly exploited Aadhaar and PAN cards — originally obtained for loan purposes — to create a fake company and claim illicit input tax credits (ITC) worth Rs 18.96 crore.

This scheme led to a significant loss to the government exchequer, shedding light on the increasing vulnerability of tax systems to sophisticated corporate fraud. Shah, a resident of Jogeshwari West, was allegedly operating M/s Rynasty Trading Private Limited, a company shown to be engaged in the trading of aluminium scrap. The company, registered for GST in November 2021, had allegedly shown transactions worth Rs 79 crore with seven non-genuine taxpayer suppliers (NGTPs), claiming R18.96 crore in ITC on paper invoices.