GST - Fake invoice scam busted; ITC abuse of Rs 22 Cr uncovered
Published: Nov 15, 2019
By TIOL News Service
The modus operandi of the two accused, inter alia, involved obtaining GST registration of fake firms across Delhi NCR, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh using documents of unsuspecting individuals and generating good-less invoices and e-way bills of these firms from a premise in Karol Bagh, Delhi. On preliminary scrutiny it appears that there is no nexus between inward and outward supplies of the errant firms. Further, the said firms have passed on fraudulent ITC to a range of buyers who have availed the same to discharge their GST liability on outward supplies, thus defrauding the Exchequer.
Therefore, the two accused have committed offences under the provisions of Section 132(1)(b) and (c) of the CGST Act 2017, which are cognizable and non-bailable under Section 132(5) being punishable under Section 132(1)(i) of the said Act. Accordingly, Mr Naveen Mutreja and Mr Keshav Ram were arrested on November 14, 19 and have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days on 15.11.2019 by the CMM, New Delhi at Patiala House Courts. Investigations are underway to identify the key beneficiaries of this racket and to recover GST involved.