Bhubaneswar: State GST Enforcement Squad, Thursday, unearthed a GST fraud racket involved in generation of fake invoices worth Rs 294 crore and passing of bogus input tax credit of Rs 52.77 crore over multiple transactions routed through different chains.
The masterminds have been arrested from Bhubaneswar under the direction of SK Lohani, Commissioner (CT & GST), Odisha.
The accused are Pramod Kumar Sahoo from Sailashree Vihar, Bhubaneswar and Vikash Sarawgi, Patia, Bhubaneswar. Pramod Kumar Sahoo is the proprietor of Sahoo Traders. This is the fourth major case of GST fraud busted by the Enforcement Wing of the Commissionerate of CT & GST, Odisha in recent months.
“Investigation reveals that the accused, taking help from locals, collected identity documents from innocent people of Kandhamal District assuring them of benefits from government schemes but misused the same for the purpose of taking GST registration and opening of current bank account in different banks, said Lohani.
“After tracking a chain of fraudulent transactions followed by scrutiny of suspected waybill transactions, physical inspections were carried out simultaneously at 11 business establishments. These were however found to be non-existent and fictitious. During investigation, the bank officials were interrogated regarding the fraudulent opening of current bank accounts in the name of these fictitious firms and making huge cash transactions,” said Lohani.
The investigation revealed further that the accused have fraudulently availed fake input tax credit of Rs 48.58 crores and passed on fake input tax credit worth Rs.52.77 crores in the name of the fictitious firms created and operated by them.
“During interrogation, the accused and proprietors of these fake firms admitted that they were neither doing any business nor making any purchases/sales in the name of their firms. They also stated that the transactions reflected in their returns were only paper transactions without any actual receipt and supply of goods,” Lohani said.