Multi-crore GST fraud detected in Ambala

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ambala, November 21

In what could be the tip of the iceberg, five Ambala traders were today booked by the district police for committing a fraud by registering fake firms with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal and causing a loss of almost Rs 6 crore to the state exchequer, the Excise and Taxation department confirmed.

The fraudsters have been identified as Tejinder Singh, who floated Tejinder Enterprises, Ravinder Singh of Super Impax, Harish of Ambala Steel Corporation, Jai Parkash of Haryana Steel and Anshu Jathol of AS Alloys.

All these fake firms were shown registered at various locations in Ambala City but during physical verification, none of them were found to be existing, Excise and Taxation officials told The Tribune here today.

Reporting the matter to the police, Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Dhanpati Bhardwaj said that the accused had floated fake firms and registered those in Ambala City with the help of fake documents to do trading of over Rs 45 crore and claiming almost Rs 6 crore input tax credit in connivance with other traders of Haryana and neighbouring states within a period ranging between three months to six months.

Acting on a complaint of the ETO addressed to Ambala Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Jorwal, the district police booked the multi-crore GST scam accused for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC and launched a manhunt for them.

“We have registered five separate cases and initiated further investigations to nail all those who caused loss to the state exchequer by way of cheating and forgery,” a senior police officer said. The police were also on the lookout for other traders in Haryana and neighbouring states besides the department officials, if any, who connived with the main accused to execute the multi-crore fraud.

The police did not rule out the involvement of some department officials in the scam. “We are probing all the angles and will go to the bottom of it by nailing all those involved,” the officer added.

In his complaint to the police, the ETO said the accused traders got their firms registered in Ambala City between December last and September this year. Upon verification, it was found that no such firms existed on the spot.

“We went to check the authenticity of the firm and found that the rent deeds and mobile phone number on the basis of which the firms were registered were fake. No such addresses or firms existed on the ground and the mobile phone numbers given in the registration forms were also incorrect,” the department told the police.

He further informed that upon checking the transactions done by the firms through the GST portal, it was found that the said firms did trading and issued sale bills and e-way bills amounting to over Rs 45.18 crore to the traders within and outside Haryana and paid no tax.

“In the process, the fake firms extended benefit of over Rs 5.92 crore input tax credit to the traders who purchased goods from them whereas there was neither any input tax credit in the name of said firms nor it had paid any tax,” revealed the ETO, while pegging the loss of over Rs 5.92 crore to the state exchequer during the initial investigations.

“We suspect that the said traders in connivance with other traders might have floated other such fake firms in other parts of Haryana and outside as well to cause more loss to the state exchequer,” said senior department officials, while hoping that the arrest of the kingpin would unearth the entire nexus behind the multi-crore racket.

Registered with fake documents 

• The fake firms were shown registered at various locations in Ambala City but during physical verification, none of them were found to be existing.
• The accused had floated fake firms and registered those with the help of fake documents to do trading of over Rs 45 crore. 
• They claimed almost Rs 6 crore input tax credit in connivance with other traders of Haryana and neighbouring states within a period ranging between three months to six months.