A GST fraud of a whopping Rs 900 crore in which input tax credit to the tune of Rs 152 crore was availed in Tamil Nadu has been busted, a top official of the Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence said here on Monday. The kingpin and two of his accomplices were arrested and produced before a court which remanded them in judicial custody and further probe is on, the official said.

In one of the major operations, the sleuths of DGGI, Chennai Zonal Unit (CZU), carried out a search on 19 and 20 December at multiple premises in the state and unearthed the fraud of about Rs 900 crore. A string of firms was created and GST registrations were done for them using identity documents of gullible people, Principal Additional Director General, CZU, DGGI, K Anpazhakan, said in an official release.

Fake invoices were issued by such fictitious firms and fraudulent input tax credit of around Rs.152 crore was availed by various firms, he said. Probe revealed that the mastermind, along with two of his accomplices, was involved in creating numerous bogus firms and opening of bank accounts based on the PAN Cards and Aadhar Cards obtained from gullible people who were falsely promised bank loans.

Cash totalling Rs 24 lakh was also seized from the residential premises of the mastermind. "Also, the search at the premises of one of the accomplices resulted in the seizure of hundreds of PAN and Aadhar Cards." These were collected from mostly women belonging to rural areas in Tindivanam and Villupuram by falsely promising them loans under government schemes..