The GST intelligence officers have busted a syndicate operating 569 fake firms and passing on fraudulent tax credit of Rs 1,047 crore, the finance ministry said. The majority of the fake firms are located in Delhi with a presence in 13 other states.
The Jaipur Zonal Unit of Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has busted a major crime syndicate operating in 14 states, based out of Delhi.
The ministry said Delhi-based Rishabh Jain, aged 30, had hired 10 employees for operating these fake firms. After extensive recce and data analytics, the officials of DGGI, Jaipur were able to trace this mastermind in Delhi and nabbed him.
This syndicate has issued invoices having taxable turnover of Rs 6,022 crore involving input tax credit (ITC) of Rs 1,047 crore through these 569 fake firms to more than 2,000 beneficiary firms.
The majority of the fake firms are located in Delhi with a presence in 13 other states — Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, West Bengal, Karnataka, Goa, Assam, and Uttarakhand.
So far, 73 bank accounts used by syndicates and brokers have been attached.
Jain was arrested on June 25 and produced before Economic Offence Court, Jaipur, and is remanded for judicial custody till July 7, the ministry added.
A multi-agency probe launched by the Centre to investigate Noida police’s claim of having busted a racket of GST fraud to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore has revealed at least 3,000 shell companies were created on fake Aadhaar and PAN details.
On Thursday, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) arrested one Sanjay Dhingra, the promoter of Good Health Industries Pvt Ltd, Rajouri Garden, Delhi, which is engaged in manufacturing of ‘Dairy Best’ brand of desi ghee having manufacturing units at Mewat in Haryana and Saharanpur in UP.
According to sources, Dhingra told DGGI during his questioning that the syndicate had managed to register at least 3,000 companies, of which 1,000 were actively engaged in illegally raising e-way bills and claiming input tax credit worth hundreds of crores. So far, the agency has tracked tax evasion of more than Rs 700 crore by these entities.
(With inputs from agencies)
