New Delhi:

Five accused in the fake goods and services tax (GST) billing scam in Gujarat were arrested by the Rajkot branch of the economic offences wing (EOW) today. The arrests happened after the police and EOW officials searched 14 locations simultaneously. A company linked to The Hindu journalist and key accused Mahesh Langa has come under scrutiny.

The locations included Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Veraval, Kadi, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Shapar, and Rajkot. The five suspects allegedly have a hand in creating fake bills and transactions.

Police inspector SM Jadeja said a GST fraud worth approximately Rs 60 lakh has been committed using a Rajkot-based company, Parmar Enterprises.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Parthrajsinh Gohil said the Rajkot police received information 20 days ago about fraudulent transactions where fake bills were being generated by shell companies to pass on GST credits.

During investigation, they found that three companies — DA Enterprises, Aryan Associates, and Arham Steel — had already been checked by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch. Based on this information, the Rajkot Crime Branch took action.

Parmar Enterprises was also involved in GST fraud in other Gujarat cities including Mehsana, Junagadh, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Gir Somnath, and Jamnagar.

DA Enterprises, a company linked to Mahesh Langa, was involved in a majority of the undisclosed transactions in the scam.

Mahesh Langa’s bail petitions were rejected, except for one in which a sessions court granted him bail. He remains in jail pending a high court decision on his bail, expected on Friday.

The police may question Mahesh Langa again, following the arrests by the Rajkot EOW in the GST scam. Parmar Enterprises was allegedly created using a fake rental agreement to obtain a GST number. This rental agreement was submitted along with the application for GST registration, leading to the creation of the ‘Parmar Enterprises’ GST number.

Using this fake company, several other companies participated in the GST fraud. The companies involved include Yash Developers, Ikara Enterprises, Civil Plus Engineering, Dhanshree Metal, DA Enterprises, Aryan Associates, Jyoti Infrastructure, Arham Steel, Riddhi Infrastructure, Ashapura Trading, Shiv Milan Plastics, Globetra Impex, Maa Durga Steel, Maruti Nandan Construction, and Lakhubha Nanbha.

Noida:

In a breakthrough in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud case, the Noida Police on Wednesday said it has arrested two Haryana-based “billionaire businessmen” who allegedly masterminded the multi-crore revenue loss to the exchequer.

The accused are in the business of metal scrap and have collectively caused a revenue loss of around Rs 25 crore to the exchequer, a senior police officer said.

Known as the “GST scam”, the case came to light in June 2023 and pertains to revenue loss to the exchequer through input-tax credit (ITC) being claimed by thousands of bogus companies that were floated using forged documents.

The police investigation has shown the involvement of hundreds of bogus firms and transactions of around Rs 10,000 crore by those, and more than two dozen people have so far been arrested in the case, according to officials.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said a few months ago, a team from Noida’s Sector 20 police station busted a racket and arrested some suspects who were allegedly behind floating around 2,600 bogus companies.

“In pursuance of that case, the masterminds of the racket who fraudulently claimed ITC from the government and caused revenue loss to the exchequer were arrested on Wednesday. The masterminds are billionaire businessmen and have been identified as Sanjay Jindal and Ajay Sharma,” Avasthy told reporters here.

“Jindal runs a company by the name of AS Brownie Metal and Alloys located in Sonipat district of Haryana. He fraudulently claimed Rs 16.9 crore worth of ITC. This amount was later frozen by enforcement agencies. Sharma used six companies to cause a revenue loss of Rs 8.57 crore. This amount was also frozen later by the GST department following a report by the Noida Police,” the officer said.

Avasthy, who has been leading the investigation in the matter since it came to light, said both the accused are “billionaire businessmen” and have “huge businesses” in Sonipat.

Jindal and Sharma were wanted by the Noida Police for long and carried a reward of Rs 25,000 each on information leading to their arrest, the DCP added.

“Jindal and Sharma are the masterminds of the racket. They were the real beneficiaries of this fraud business of floating bogus companies and claiming ITC on their behalf. So far, we have arrested 32 people in connection with the case and some more linked to it will be held soon,” he said.

Police said an FIR was lodged at the Sector 20 police station under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 467, 468, 471 (all related to forgery) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Last month, the Noida Police attached assets worth approximately Rs 12 crore of the gang members involved in the GST “scam”, including immovable properties at multiple locations in Delhi.

The case came to light in June 2023 after thugs applied for the registration of bogus companies by fraudulently using the PAN details of a journalist and got two firms registered –” one in Punjab and one in Maharashtra — while the request for a third such company to be registered in Delhi was rejected by the GST authorities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)