Tax consultant dupes city businessman of Rs 73 lakh via GST fraud

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

A tax consultant from the city has been booked for cheating a businessman of Rs 73.63 lakh by misusing his GST account and uploading fake bills.

The accused, Govind Lahoti of Vinayak Park, Deolai, allegedly used the GST portal to carry out bogus transactions worth crores under the victim’s name. Businessman Madhusudan Soni from Gevrai had hired Lahoti in 2017 to manage his GST filings. Lahoti registered Soni’s GST account using his own mobile number and email, cutting the businessman off from all official updates. The fraud came to light only after Soni received a GST notice in November last year. When he updated his account with his personal contact details, he uncovered multiple fake transactions.

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Threatened for demanding answers

When Soni confronted Lahoti, the latter admitted the fraud but threatened him against going to the police. Despite the warning, Soni received more notices in January, confirming further misuse.

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Fake firms, real losses

Lahoti allegedly forged purchases using names like Dhruv Trading, M.S. Trading, and Global Trading & Co., claiming huge input credits:

• Rs 83 lakh in 2023–24 (Rs 16.43 lakh GST)

• Rs 1.35 crore in 2024–25 (Rs 34.92 lakh GST)

• Rs 73.63 lakh in 2022–23

Jawaharnagar police have registered the case. PSI Maroti Khillare is investigating.