Delhi GST Refund Scam: 3 Officials, 2 Private Persons Arrested Over Rs 5.5 Crore Fraud:

Three officials of the Delhi government’s Department of Trade and Taxes and two private individuals have been arrested in an alleged GST refund scam involving wrongful refunds of around Rs 5.50 crore, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) said on Tuesday.

The arrested accused have been identified as GST Officer Ajit Singh, GST Inspector Atal Bhardwaj, Lower Division Clerk Himanshu Malik, and private individuals Ajay Kumar and Ashish Mishra.

The case was registered after the Department of Trade and Taxes complained about irregularities in the processing and approval of GST refund claims.

According to the ACB, the investigation found that mandatory verification and financial checks were allegedly skipped. Fake documents and photographs were also allegedly used to obtain refunds within a very short period.

The alleged fraud caused a loss of around Rs 5.5 crore to the government exchequer. The ACB further alleged that GST Officer Ajit Singh approved the refund claims without carrying out the required scrutiny.