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NEW DELHI : GST officials have arrested an accountant for allegedly issuing bogus invoices of more than Rs. 1,000 crore and committing tax credit fraud of Rs.181 crore, said an official statement.
Officers in Mumbai received specific inputs from data mining that an entity was suspected to be engaged in availing and passing on of fake input tax credit by issuing fake invoices without actual receipt or supply of goods or services.
They conducted investigations and noticed that a 27 years old person, who has studied till 12 standard and now works as a freelance accountant cum GST consultant, allegedly stole the identity of one of his clients for committing GST fraud.
Confrontation with material evidence made the accountant confess his offence of issuing bogus bills of more than Rs. 1000 crores and availing and passing of fake ITC of Rs. 181 crores without movement of any goods, the statement said.
His confession and evidence collected during the investigation led to his arrest by the CGST officers on Tuesday for violations punishable under CGST Act, the statement said.
The accused was produced before a court in Mumbai and has been remanded to 14 days of judicial custody. “It is suspected that he is a part of a bigger network which lures innocent people to obtain GST registrations and then steals their registration. This stolen identity is used for generation, availing and passing on of fake input tax credit, without actual supply or receipt of goods or services. All efforts are being made to identify and nab the kingpin and other members and beneficiaries of this network," the statement said.
As a part of an anti-evasion drive, officials of the GST Commissionerate at Palghar in Maharashtra has detected tax evasion of ₹460 crore and have recovered ₹12 crore and arrested two persons so far, the statement said. The CGST department is going to intensify this drive, it said.
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