Chargesheet in 175 cr GST refund scam

The state anti-corruption bureau (ACB) has submitted a chargesheet in the Rs. 175 crore GST refund scam involving a sales tax official who granted refunds without following mandatory verification.

The addresses of most of the 16 companies, which claimed the refunds, just existed on paper, the chargesheet sadi.

Amit Lalge, state sales tax inspector, did not visit any of these firms, yet he cleared the refund claim in five days, though it should have been cleared in 60 days, without following due process of verification, says the 11,900- page chargesheet.

The ACB on Tuesday submitted the chargesheet before the special ACB court against four-Amit Lalge, customs clearing agent Kiran Bhanusali, businessman Farooq Shaikh, and Farooq Contractor. Police are yet to file the chargesheet against the fifth accused, Anil Runthala, who was arrested early this month.

The chargesheet stated the alleged scam took place between Aug 2021 and March 2022. However, it came to light only during a recent audit by the department. Lalge was not authorised even to clear a return file exceeding Rs. 5 lakh, the chargesheet said. Shaikh was arrested by the CBI in March this year in another Rs. 200 crore cheating case.

Source: The Times of India