SIT unearths Rs 200 cr GST, VAT fraud in Sirsa

Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, March 22

Suspect Atul Gupta, arrested in a fake firm case was sent to jail today after being presented in the Sirsa court. During investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Sirsa police, Gupta had revealed information related to other individuals involved with his fake firm.

One of his accomplices, former deputy excise and taxation commissioners (excise) Gopichand, would also be arrested in the case through a production warrant, as he is already in jail for another similar case.

It should be noted that this case is one of 39, involving approximately Rs 200 crore worth of GST and VAT-related fraud. According to the information obtained from the investigating officers, the SIT would be investigating all 39 cases for tax-related fraud, with 34 cases related to VAT and 5 cases related to GST. In these cases, a refund claim worth Rs 5,66,16,299 was made, while an illegal tax adjustment of Rs 59,53,57,613 was also done.

Additionally, a loss of Rs 61,33,26,968 crore to the government revenue was incurred by issuing C and F forms. The fraud of Rs 197,88,88,508 crore involves the collusion of sales tax department employees. During the investigation, 18 officials were found to have been involved, out of which seven were arrested while 11 are evade arrest.

Sirsa SP Vikrant Bhushan said out of the 39 cases, 61 suspects were identified, out of which 32 were arrested. He said eight suspect, in the case, had died, while the arrest of 21 suspects was pending. The SP revealed that these cases were seven to eight years old, and owing to the recent actions of the SIT in the last six months, 25 suspects were arrested. Previously, only 7 people had been arrested in these cases.

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#Goods and Services Tax GST #Sirsa