A sprawling ₹155 crore financial fraud has shaken Maharashtra’s Nagpur, where a network of local businessmen used the stolen identities of vulnerable individuals to float dozens of fake companies. These shell firms were then used for hawala transactions and large-scale GST manipulation. What began as a desperate man’s attempt to find work, ended in a web of forgery, laundering, and digital exploitation.
The Stolen Identity Scheme That Sparked a Mega Fraud Unraveling
In a case that exposes the growing menace of financial identity theft and shell company operations in India, Nagpur Police have unearthed a ₹155 crore hawala scam involving a ring of traders who used real Aadhaar and PAN details of unsuspecting individuals to register fake companies and siphon funds through fake GST invoices and forged transactions.
The crime came to light when Biswajit Roy, a modest food stall owner from West Bengal, currently residing in Nagpur, discovered that a company had been fraudulently registered under his name. Roy, lured with the promise of profit-sharing by acquaintances, had earlier handed over his identity documents during a time of financial distress.
Roy was allegedly introduced to the racket by Suraj alias Pritam Kedia, and subsequently met the main accused, including Bunty Shah, Jayesh Shah, Avinash Shah, Rishi Lakhani, Rajesh Shah, Anand Harde, and Brijkishore Manihar. The group offered him monthly profits for lending his identity, which they later used to set up a GST-registered company with two bank accounts and fake transactions totaling over ₹96 crore between September and December 2024.
50+ Fake Firms, Dummy Invoices, and a Shadow Economy
Police say this is just the tip of the iceberg. At least 60 to 70 such fake companies may have been registered using real identities of unaware citizens from multiple Indian states. These companies generated bogus invoices, showed fake sales and purchases, and created the illusion of active trade to funnel illicit cash into legitimate banking channels.
The money would then be withdrawn in cash or routed through dummy vendors—creating a layered laundering network. In Roy’s case alone, ₹96.39 crore in transactions were traced. In another case involving a victim named Mithun Raju Rajpande, ₹59.51 crore worth of false transactions were carried out under a firm called Awdh Enterprises.
The modus operandi included:
- Using real ID cards to register companies as MSMEs
- Acquiring SIM cards in victims’ names for OTPs and access
- Opening bank accounts to receive GST payments
- Generating fake invoices and accepting payments
- Withdrawing and laundering the money as “cash returns”
The scamsters even threatened Roy when he raised objections after realizing the misuse of his identity. “Stay quiet, or face the consequences,” he was reportedly told.
Four Arrested, Dozens Under Scanner as Police Trace the Web
Following Roy’s complaint, a case was registered at Lakadganj Police Station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. A team led by DCP (Detection) Rahul Mankikar initiated a deep-dive investigation with the Nagpur Crime Branch, revealing mass-scale identity exploitation, document forgery, and hawala activity.
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Four men—Bunty Shah, Jayesh Shah, Rishi Lakhani, and Brijkishore Manihar—have been arrested. During interrogation, the accused admitted to creating dozens of firms and laundering black money through fake trade. Police suspect the actual scam amount may cross thousands of crores, and efforts are underway to trace beneficiaries, bank handlers, CA consultants, and hawala links.
Investigators are now:
- Mapping all fake firms linked through shared addresses, directors, and account signatories
- Tracking all GST records, invoices, and fund trails
- Coordinating with RBI, UIDAI, GSTN, and Income Tax departments
- Seeking central intelligence support to assess the national scale