Ludhiana: A day after the TOI reported about a Rs 427-crore bogus billing racket executed by a city businessman, teams of Central GST (CGST) commissionerate, Ludhiana, have started conducting raids to nab the mastermind, Gurbax Lal, alias Happy Nagpal.
Nagpal’s accomplices, Sandeep Kumar, alias PP, and Rajinder Singh, who were arrested by the CGST on February 5, have been sent in judicial remand till February 19.
Owing to whopping cash withdrawals of about Rs 100 crore to Rs 125 crore by the accused, other investigating agencies, including the enforcement directorate (ED) and the income tax department, will also probe the case from angles of money laundering and black money.
Sources said kingpin Nagpal, who lived a lavish lifestyle, was under the radar of the state taxation department. Modus operandi of his nexus in which Rs 65-crore input tax credit (ITC) is involved included luring businessmen by offering them discount on GST applicable on purchase bills of iron and steel and scrap. For example, if he offered a bill of scrap to a customer on which 18% GST is applicable, he would give 5% discount and charge 13% GST. Sources said no actual transfer of goods ever took place in any of the transactions.
Principal commissioner, CGST, Ashutosh Baranwal said, “Out of the two arrested persons in this case, Rajinder had created and operated two bogus firms in his own name. He had issued GST invoices of Rs 21 crore involving fake ITC of Rs 4.28 crore. He had also availed and utilised fake ITC of Rs 3.43 crore through bogus GST invoices. In addition to being the operator and controller of the two bogus entities, Rajinder was also engaged in performing banking operations (like RTGS entries, cash withdrawals) for other 30 firms controlled and operated by Nagpal. He had been withdrawing Rs 10 lakh to Rs 40 lakh almost daily from May 2018 to date. He has, till now, withdrawn Rs 100 crore to Rs 125 crore from the bank accounts of 32 firms operated by Happy Nagpal.”
Baranwal added, “Sandeep Kumar, the second accomplice of the kingpin, created fake firms on ID proofs of different persons and gave their GST registration details to Nagpal. Sandeep himself was operating five such fraudulent firms under the supervision of Nagpal, for which he used to receive Rs 60,000 per month.”