Lid off fake billing scam worth Rs 70 cr

Ramkrishan Upadhyay  

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26

The Excise and Taxation Department  has unearthed the biggest-ever fake  billing scam in Chandigarh ever since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). While the  department has identified five  bogus  firms  under its  jurisdiction   for their alleged involvement in the  scam worth around Rs 70 crore,  it has  also   detected 15 more firms falling  under  the Central GST Department. It has  also identified  132  firms  registered on bogus addresses. The department  is  now in the process of writing to the  police to file an FIR  against the five  firms.

Sources said the five firms generated  fake bills to fraudulently claim the input tax credit (ITC). The bogus bills were used to fraudulently claim the ITC from the department without the actual movement of goods. the sources said the firms involved in the racket obtained GST registration. Using the registration, the fake movement of goods was shown and bogus purchase invoices were generated. These bills were sold at a lump sum amount to actual traders, who not only purchased goods from the grey market to claim the ITC illegally, but also evaded taxes. 

 Mandeep Singh  Brar, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Excise  and Taxation Commissioner, ordered a detailed inquiry after the  matter came to his notice. Various teams of excise officers were formed,  which conducted  a survey  for  over a month. Given the huge amount of fake bills generated, the officials  had to  work hard to  unearth the scam. The firms  involved in the racket got themselves registered  in villages  in the  city. The sources  said the firms involved in tax evasion were largely into the business of  iron metals, scrap of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. All these items fall under the 18  per cent  tax slab.  The  firms involved  in the  scam included AK  Trading Company,  Vinita   Enterprises,   RJ  Enterprises,  Mahadev  Metals  and RD  Trading  Company.   

The  department has cancelled the GST numbers of the  firms from the date of the  registration.