Officials stated that goods weighing tonnes were transported using two-wheelers, cars, three-wheelers, scooters, and mopeds, as evidenced by waybills in the names of fictitious companies.
On Wednesday, the state GST enforcement wing discovered fake invoicing worth Rs 1,727.91 crore and arrested five people in connection with it.
According to sources, 12 teams comprised of 48 enforcement wing officers assisted by 35 police officials apprehended the directors and ex-directors of three Rourkela-based companies: Swastik Ingot Pvt Ltd, Sunayana Metal Industries Limited, and Sai Ram Ingot Pvt Ltd.
Dhanwan Shaw, Ram Bharose Shaw, Manoj Kumar Pandey, Subash Kandulana, and their associate Niku Singh alias Chhatar Singh were among those arrested. They were accused of obtaining and passing bogus input tax credit (ITC) worth Rs 311.03 crore on the basis of fake invoices totaling Rs 1,727.91 crore.
According to officials, the five individuals created and operated 23 other fictitious/non-existent business entities in Sundargarh district in order to make bogus transactions in their name and to avail and pass on ITC without physical receipt and supply of goods.
The investigation revealed that the accused set up and ran 24 bogus businesses by obtaining identity documents such as PAN, Aadhar, and bank passbooks from innocent people such as a primary school teacher, LIC agent, crane operator, daily wage earner, farmer, street vendor, vehicle registration agent, and housewives under the guise of providing them with regular monthly income ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 40,000 per month.
They had also opened bank accounts in the names of innocent people in various public and private sector banks and operated by obtaining signed cheques, RTGS forms, ATMs, and passwords from the account holders.
Officials stated that goods weighing tonnes were transported using two-wheelers, cars, three-wheelers, scooters, and mopeds, as evidenced by waybills generated in the name of the fictitious firms.
According to a GST official, the goods were manufactured/purchased in the name of two companies, Swastik Ingot Pvt Ltd and Sunayana Metal Industries Ltd, without the payment of tax. Purchase and sale invoices were issued in the names of fictitious companies in order to legalise the illegal transaction and avoid paying taxes.
Transactions in 49 bank accounts opened under different names have been examined, and 173 people have been questioned in order to substantiate the charges and uncover the circular trading, he said. The accused were brought before the court and remanded in judicial custody.
So far, the State Enforcement Wing has arrested 28 people for generating fake invoices worth Rs 9,196.26 crore and availing and passing bogus ITC worth Rs 1,739.84 crore.
Prasanta Patnaik