Ghaziabad News: According to deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Harish Chander, the Gautam Budh Nagar police have busted an eight-person gang that had been dishonestly using the permanent account numbers (PAN) of 635,000 people for over five years to evade Goods and Services Tax (GST) worth multiple crores. The gang had also set up 2,660 shell companies.
Suspects Allegedly Steal Over 10000 Crore in GST Scam
Although the overall amount of tax evasion has not yet been determined, a state GST official who attended a press conference conducted by the Gautam Budh Nagar police on Thursday stated that it may be expected to be more than 10,000 crore. ‘We have confirmed and examined every piece of information and document that the police uncovered while looking into the scam. We think that the suspects have stolen more than 10,000 crore from the GST department,’ said the officer, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not licenced to speak to the media.
Suspects Accused of Defrauding Government through GST Refund Scam
The official claimed that the suspects defrauded the public purse of millions of dollars by establishing phoney corporations to receive a refund of input credit tax from the government. The issue came to light after a Noida resident and editor of a media company with headquarters in Sector 16 reported identity fraud on his PAN card at the Sector 20 police station on May 10. ‘The complainant learned that two fictitious enterprises, one in Solapur, Maharashtra, and the other in Ludhiana, Punjab, had been registered using his PAN card information. An inquiry was then started after a first information report was filed under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code that address forgery and cheating,’ according to DCP Chander.
Gang Exploits PAN Cards to Create Thousands of Fake Businesses for GST Fraud
Following an inquiry, the authorities were directed to a group that had been operating for five years and had over 635,000 people’s permanent account number cards in its possession. ‘The gang has been operating for the past five years, and we’ve managed to recover at least 635,000 people’s PAN card information from them. The suspects created false businesses and registered them for GST using the PAN card information. We discovered 2,660 such fictitious businesses that had been set up using fraudulent permanent account number cards.’ According to Laxmi Singh, the commissioner of police in Gautam Budh Nagar, these fictitious businesses were then utilised to produce e-way bills (GST-related challans for transportation consignments) worth more than 2- 3 crore each month on each company.
Gang Arrested for Creating False Businesses in Elaborate GST Fraud Scheme
“Certified chartered accountants make up five of the suspects.” According to Rajneesh Verma, assistant commissioner of police-1 for Noida, “we are in communication with GST officials, who have raised concern that some businesspeople may have bought these fictitious organisations in order to claim GST input credit from the government and cheat tax.” Yasin Sheikh, 38, of Mumbai, Akash Saini, 21, of Sahibabad, Atul Sengar, 23, of Hathras, Avni, 25, of Noida, Deepak Murjani, 48, and Vinita, his wife, 45, Vishal, 20, and Rajeev, 38, all of Delhi, have been named as the suspects. They were captured at their workplace in Delhi’s Madhu Vihar. According to Verma, the suspects first created false businesses by forcibly buying personal information from a service provider, including names, fathers’ names, dates of birth, and personal account numbers.
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