CGST of Itanagar busts racket involving Rs 658-crore fake invoices

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Central GST Commissionerate of Itanagar has unearthed a racket involved in the issuance of fake invoices valued at Rs 658.55 crore without any supply of goods.

Based on an FIR of Central GST, the Itanagar police apprehended two masterminds in the fake racket—Ashutosh Kumar Jha and Bipin Kumar Jha—from Darbhanga, Bihar. The Central GST, Itanagar, arrested the duo on Monday under Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017.

The investigation revealed that M/s Siddhi Vinayak Trade Merchants, a firm registered in Arunachal Pradesh, had engaged in the fraudulent passage of Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 99.30 crore to fifty-eight firms across the country. The fraudulent activities included the creation of a firm using forged documents to create a fake firm, the generation of invoices without the supply of goods, and the manipulation of GST returns to avail of Input Tax Credit fraudulently, resulting in a loss of around Rs 100 crore to the government exchequer.

A search operation was conducted in Kolkata when significant evidence was seized, including electronic devices (seven mobile phones and one iPad) that had been sent for forensic analysis and other miscellaneous documents like fifty-three PAN and Aadhar cards of different individuals, seventeen rent agreements, etc., connected with the fraud. During the search, it was discovered that multiple KYC documents of fictitious individuals were in the possession of the accused, further indicating the scale of the fraudulent activities. The search also revealed that the accused were actively managing and filing fraudulent GST returns from this location. The accused were found to have orchestrated a complex network of fraudulent transactions across the country, utilizing forged documents and fake identities to facilitate the passage of Input Tax Credit.

Considering the forgery of KYC documents to create the firm, an FIR was lodged by the Central GST department with Itanagar Police.

To curb fraud in GST and increase compliance, the GST formations, under the Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs (CBIC), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, are carrying out a focused drive across the country on the issue of non-existent bogus registration and issuance of fake invoices without any underlying supply of goods and services, sources in the CGST said.

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