The Finance Department of Punjab Government has exposed 20 such firms that were involved in GST fraud worth crores of rupees.
These firms very cleverly established their network so that the names of the real managers could not come forward.
For this, they targeted common laborers and unemployed people. They were lured with daily wages of Rs 800 and their PAN cards, Aadhar cards and other documents were taken by saying that payments would be made to their accounts.
Later, these documents were used to create companies under fake names and get GST registrations. The bank accounts of these firms were already opened.
In this way, a total scam of Rs 866 crore has come to light. Of this, GST theft in the name of taxi services alone amounted to Rs 157.22 crore.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said that so far important evidence like Rs 40 lakh in cash, fake bill books and unsigned checkbooks have been found in the investigation.
A case has been registered in Ludhiana in this matter. Sarbjit Singh is the main accused in this scam, action is underway to arrest him.
Key Role of Ludhiana’s Accountant
In this scam, a Ludhiana accountant’s key role has come to light. He started this fraud in 2023. So far, he alone has made fake tax credits worth Rs 157.22 crore.
According to a Taxation Department official, the accused showed transactions worth Rs 249 crore in 2023-24 by creating fake bills and claimed Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 45.12 crore based on this.
After this, in 2024-25, ITC of Rs 104.08 crore was taken by showing fake business of Rs 569.54 crore. In just the first two months of this year, fake tax credit of Rs 8.01 crore was claimed by showing transactions worth Rs 47.25 crore.
Investigation agencies are now also watching other people connected to this network. Many more names may come forward soon.
Case also registered against transport company The transport company named Maa Durga Road Lines also committed fraud by creating fake e-way bills worth Rs 168.
These e-way bills were created using certificates of Ludhiana-based firms. These showed movement of goods from Ludhiana to Delhi. However, in reality no vehicle had actually entered Punjab.
Source: Bhaskar English
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