Delhi: How the transfer of an officer uncovered a massive GST fraud involving 500 fake companies
Delhi government's anti-corruption branch (ACB) has arrested seven individuals, including a suspended GST officer, three advocates, two transporters, and a proprietor of fake firms, for their alleged involvement in a GST fraud racket. The fraud involved fraudulent GST refunds that amounted to approximately Rs 54 crore, and forged invoices totaling Rs 718 crore were discovered. The operation uncovered nearly 500 non-existent firms, which appeared to be engaging in business activities solely on paper to claim the fraudulent refunds, a TOI report stated.
Officials have pointed to significant procedural lapses and malpractices by the arrested GST officer, Babita Sharma, who has since been suspended. The fraudulent refunds were reportedly approved without proper verification of input tax credit, which has resulted in a substantial loss to the government’s exchequer.
ACB Chief Joint Commissioner Madhur Verma highlighted the nature of the fraud:
“Input tax credit has been taken against fake invoices amounting to Rs 718 crore. In the case of 15 firms, there was neither Aadhaar authentication at the time of registration nor physical verification of the firm. Five firms were found registered under the same PAN/email ID/mobile number, which was used for multiple GSTIN registrations.”
Verma further explained the fraudulent activities:
“Forged expressway bills for carrying items and goods receipts were used in refund applications. Twenty-three out of 96 fake firms are being run by the same group of offenders, i.e., accused
