Major GST fraud unearthed: 3 arrested in Meerut for claiming fake tax credit of ₹557 cr

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₹557 crore. One of these rackets had a close nexus with the fake firms unearthed by Noida Police last month. In a statement about the developments, Finance Ministry said, “Taking clue from the Noida Police case and based on extensive data mining coupled with human intelligence, 2 major syndicates, being operated by masterminds Mr.

Anand Kumar & Mr. Ajay Kumar, involved in creating and operating fake shell entities have been busted." The forensic examination of seized laptops and mobile phones of the masterminds helped the officers retrieve ledgers, invoices, e-way bills, bilties etc. WhatsApp chats/ voice messages evidencing the transactions of fake GST bills have also been retrieved along with the illegal cash flow.

Meerut Police have also recovered several documents connected to the fake companies like forged stamps, debit and credit cards, chequebooks, Aadhar card, PAN card etc. The ministry noted that the 'masterminds' were probably in close connection with brokers/agents who specialize in procuring IDs of poor and needy people in lieu of some monetary benefits. Bank officials could also have been involved in opening bank accounts in the name of fake firms.

The two syndicates have issued invoices with taxable turnover of ₹3,142 crores that involved ITC of ₹557 crore via 246 fake companies to over 1500 companies. Finance Ministry noted that all the major beneficiaries are located in Delhi while others are spread over 26 states. All three accused were produced in front of Meeut's Economic Offence Court on Wednesday and were remanded to judicial custody till August 8, 2023.