GST Fraud: Ghaziabad Man arrested for making Fake Firms and evading GST of Rs.10000 Crore

The GST officials have arrested a 31-year-old man for his alleged involvement in creating fake firms using stolen or fake identities to claim input tax credit (ITC) as part of a Rs. 10,000 crore GST fraud.

The accused, identified as Babar Khan had been missing from nine months and carried a reward of Rs. 25,000 on his arrest.

On June 1, 2023, Noida police arrested a gang suspected of carrying out a Rs. 10,000 crore GST fraud. The gang’s operation entailed creating hundreds of shell companies to generate expressway (e-way) bills and get ITC from the government. During the probe, police discovered that over 2,000 fake organizations were created using fake Aadhaar and PAN cards and utilized to obtain ITC.

According to deputy commissioner of police (crime), Shakti Avasthy, Khan was detained on Thursday at his home in Loni, Ghaziabad, by the Sector 20 police team and the Noida police crime response team.

The DCP said, It was found during the investigation, that he was involved in arranging for needy people to utilize their Aadhaar cards. He would offer such people’s identity documents to the other members of the gang, who would then use them to create fake firms in order to obtain ITC.

According to the officer, Khan has been connected with the gang since 2021, and the precise number of IDs he has misappropriated remains unknown. The DCP explained the suspect’s method of operation, stating that Khan would find destitute persons living in slums or temporary settlements.

He would pay them between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 1,500 for their Aadhaar cards. Using these documents, the accused formed shell companies and used them to generate bogus invoices and obtain ITC from the government.

Khan was charged with cheating and forgery and taken into judicial custody after appearing in court on Thursday.