GST agents discovered fake billing racket worth Rs 38.5 crore in tax evasion
New Delhi:
The Treasury Department said Goods and Services Tax (GST) agents had found a racket of 54 bogus firms involved in false billing of Rs 611 crore with tax evasion of Rs 38.5 crore.
Delhi South CGST Commissionerate conducted searches and inspections across Delhi, unearthing a cartel involving 54 bogus firms registered in the Delhi-NCR region engaged in false billing and circular trading.
During the search, incriminating documents such as stamps and stationery from various companies, mobile telephones, laptops, etc. were seized.
Preliminary investigations conducted to date into these transactions have revealed false invoices of about Rs. 611 crores and tax evasion of more than Rs. 38.5 crores.
their confessions, the members of the cartel have accepted their role in managing these bogus firms,” the ministry said in a statement.
Three key figures of the cartel, namely Ankit Gupta, the mastermind behind these bogus firms and two of his accomplices, Rabiendra Singh and Rajendra Singh, were arrested on February 23 and given 14 days in prison.
In a separate statement, the ministry said the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Commissionerate, Faridabad, of Panchkula CGST Zone, arrested two individuals on Feb. 23 for running a fake billing racket, involving five dummy firms, for issuing false invoices over Rs 200 crore without actual delivery of goods and using fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) amounting to Rs 31.85 crore.
Under the GST Act, issuing an invoice or bill without delivery of goods or services and unlawful use or use of input tax credit is a recognizable and non-payable offense if the amount exceeds Rs 5 crore.
“Both owners of the said companies have accepted that they have used fraudulent ITC of Rs. 31.85 crore, without actual delivery of goods to interstate recipients, and have accepted the total GST liability of Rs. 31.85 crore during the first study. The quantum may increase in the future,” the statement added.
