The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has detected 1,700 fraudulent Input Tax Credit cases involving 18 thousand crore rupees in the current financial year till December 2023. It has arrested 98 fraudsters and masterminds in this connection. The Ministry of Finance in a statement said that DGGI has laid special emphasis on identifying and apprehending the masterminds of fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) and disrupting syndicates, operating across the country. DGGI has unravelled cases using data analysis aided by advanced technical tools which led to the arrest of tax evaders. 

The Ministry added that these tax syndicates often use gullible persons and entice them with job or commission and bank loans to extract their Know Your Customers (KYC) documents. These documents were then used for the creation of fake or shell firms and companies without their knowledge and consent. In some cases, the KYC method was used with the knowledge of the concerned person by paying them small pecuniary benefits.