Mangaluru — Officials from the Mangaluru City Corporation have unearthed a massive scam involving over 4,500 forged property tax and trade licence documents, allegedly facilitated by brokers and middlemen. The fraudulent operation is estimated to have caused the civic body a significant revenue loss running into crores.
Investigations revealed that fraudsters were collecting trade licence renewal fees and property taxes from citizens, but instead of remitting the payments to the corporation, they issued counterfeit receipts. The scam surfaced after fake certificates were discovered in the names of Devang Patel and Balakrishna Suvarna.
A key suspect, identified as Prithviraj Shetty, reportedly extorted thousands of rupees from these individuals while handing over forged documents. The scam came to light when officials reviewed 15 years of trade licence records related to Devang Patel and found serious discrepancies.
In response, the City Corporation Commissioner has ordered a thorough audit of all existing trade licences. A formal police complaint has been lodged, and further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the network.
Authorities suspect this racket to be widespread and are urging the public to verify licences and receipts directly with the MCC office or its official portal.