The State GST Enforcement Wing on Thursday busted a huge GST fraud racket by arresting two persons, including a Jharsuguda-based chartered accountant.
The nabbed accused were identified as chartered accountant Amit Kumar Agrawal, partner of the Amit Kanheyalal and Company and Satindra Kumar Yadav, proprietor of. SS Syndicate in Bhubaneswar.
The duo were allegedly involved in the floating of 13 fictitious firms through which they availed input tax credit (ITC) worth crores.
As per reports, the accused masterminds in collusion with others availed and passed on bogus ITC worth at least Rs 323 crore by raising fake purchase and sale invoices to the tune of Rs 1,819 crore in the name of 13 fictitious or non-existent firms.
The actual loss to the State exchequer is Rs 58.14 crore. The case came to the fore after a GST Enforcement Team apprehended a truck during a routine check. The racket was active in West Bengal, Delhi, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as well.
The State GST Enforcement Wing has so far arrested 23 fraudsters for their involvement in the issuance of fake invoices. Registration of 29,002 dealers has been cancelled so far on different grounds after field enquiry.
To eliminate bogus registration, the registration process has been streamlined. Moreover, a two-month-long special drive starting from July 16, 2021 to September 15, 2021 in ongoing to weed out all non-existing registrants.
GST Commissioner Sushil Kumar Lohani has appealed to people not to provide their identity documents, personal and bank details to any unauthorised person.