NEW DELHI:
Meerut CGST Commissionerate
on Thursday busted a syndicate that fraudulently claimed
Input Tax Credit
(ITC) of over Rs 1,000 crore through a network of 232
fake firms
and arrested three persons. The
anti-evasion branch
of
Central Goods and Services Tax
(CGST) of Meerut Commissionerate started an investigation in October 2023 into a syndicate that fraudulently claimed ITC by way of fake billing, a statement said.
The investigation conducted so far has revealed that 232 fake firms, with 91 companies registered on a single mobile number, are registered at various places across the country and have passed inadmissible ITC of around Rs 1,048 crore, it said. The total value of goods shown to be supplied through these firms is around Rs 5,842 crore, it said.
During the course of the investigation, it came to light that ‘Full Fledged Money Changer Companies’ (FFMCs) were used for parking/routing of funds generated through fraudulently passed on ITC, it said. Further investigation revealed bulk purchases of around Rs 1,120 crore from two of such FFMCs from other FFMCs, it said. However, no record of further disposal/receipt of said foreign currency has been recovered during searches.