The State GST (Goods and Services Tax) enforcement wing on Thursday arrested two persons on charges of passing on bogus input tax credit (ITC) worth ₹323 crore.
Addressing a press conference here, Sushil Kumar Lohani, Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and GST, said Amit Kumar Agrawal, a chartered accountant, and his accomplice Satindra Kumar Yadav, had been arrested for their involvement in the creation and operation of 13 fictitious firms.
“The two have availed and passed on ITC worth ₹323 crore by raising fake purchase and sale invoices to the tune of ₹1,819 crores in the name of 13 fictitious or non-existent business entities,” said Mr. Lohani.
Mr. Lohani said the Directorate would put forth its argument so that the two did not get bail.
“The actual loss to the government is ₹58.14 crore as the ITC was passed on to recipients outside the State of Odisha. Taking advantage of the newly introduced simplification of GST, the fraud was committed by the culprit,” the Commissioner of Commercial Tax said.
Since, the route of this tax fraud spread over to different States, including West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, officers moved to different States and conducted the investigation, taking the help of the concerned jurisdictional officers.
The principal place of business of the 10 fictitious firms were shown to be waste land without any building or infrastructure at Bagdehi in Jharsuguda, two other places in Beheramal in Jharsuguda, and one place in Sambalpur.
“Investigation reveals that a portion of illegal money accrued from the fake business has ultimately been received by the masterminds through different channels and routes,” said Mr. Lohani.
