Kingpin arrested in Rs 712 crore fake GST invoice racket in Odisha

The GST Enforcement Squad in Odisha on Monday arrested the kingpin of a racket involved in the generation of fake invoices worth Rs 712 crore and passing of bogus Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 129 crore over multiple transactions routed through different chains.

Bhubaneswar:The GST Enforcement Squad in Odisha on Monday arrested the kingpin of a racket involved in the generation of fake invoices worth Rs 712 crore and passing of bogus Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 129 crore over multiple transactions routed through different chains.

The mastermind Kashmira Kumar Agrawal, Director of Madhumita Steels Industries Private Limited, has been arrested from Sambalpur as per the direction of S.K Lohani, Commissioner (Commercial Tax and GST), Odisha. Agarwal had been under the scanner of the State GST Enforcement Squad since long, said a press release.

However, he used to change his address frequently from Rourkela to Haryana to Sambalpur, it said.

Some of the accused involved in the racket have been arrested earlier. Subsequent to the tracking of a chain of fraudulent transactions followed by the scrutiny of suspected e-bill transactions and collection of intelligence, physical inspections were carried out simultaneously at 14 business establishments.

These were, however, found to be non-existent and fictitious, the release added.

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During interrogation, the proprietors of these fake firms admitted they were neither doing any business nor effecting any purchases/sales in the name of their firms and the transactions reflected in their returns were only paper transactions without any actual receipt and supply of goods.

All of them also categorically admitted that they had neither deposited nor withdrawn any amount from the bank account opened in the name of their firm.

The banking transactions in the name of the firms had been undertaken by the mastermind by misutilising the signed cheque book and RTGS forms taken from innocent persons in whose name registration had been taken fraudulently and in some cases by forging their signatures.

It was also revealed following the investigation that the accused has transferred a huge amount of money to different firms without having any business transactions with them.

In the case of one firm, he was shown to have purchased goods worth Rs 13 crore but had transferred Rs 38 crore to the said firm through its bank account raising suspicions regarding his involvement in money laundering.

In many cases, tons of goods have been shown to have been dispatched to different states through scooters, motorcycles, tractors and cars which is not possible.

It was revealed that Agarwal fraudulently availed bogus ITC of Rs 113.81 crore and passed on bogus Input Tax Credit worth Rs 129.09 crores in the name of 14 fictitious firms created and operated by him on the strength of fake invoices.

IANS Report