GST officers arrest one person for Rs 43 crore Input Tax Credit fraud

NEW DELHI: GST officers have arrested one person for creating fictitious firms on forged documents and passing on fake ITC worth Rs 43 crore, Finance Ministry said on Thursday.

The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) Gurugram Zonal Unit (GZU), Haryana, has arrested Ravinder Kumar (aka Ravinder Garg), a resident of New Delhi on charges of creating and operating fictitious firms on forged documents that were used in availing of and passing on Input Tax Credit (ITC) on bogus invoices without actual receipt and supply of goods or services.

It is apparent from the investigation conducted to date, that Kumar created multiple proprietorship, partnership firms and private limited companies based in Haryana, New Delhi and Jharkhand merely on paper, the Ministry said.

"Ravinder was absconding and kept changing his locations, the officers kept watch on his frequent places and after a long period of monitoring and active surveillance, were able to nab him," it added.

He admitted to having created two private limited companies, one partnership firm and multiple proprietorship firms which have generated sham invoices without goods amounting to Rs 237.98 crore and passed on fake ITC amounting to more than Rs 43 crore. Kumar was arrested on March 9 and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody.