Odisha GST arrests 2 masterminds

Bhubaneswar: Odisha's GST Enforcement Wing has unearthed a Rs 323 crore GST fraud and arrested two masterminds including a charted accountant in the fake invoicing activities in the state, an official statement said.

The state GST Enforcement Wing Thursday arrested Amit Kumar Agrawal, a Chartered Accountant, Jharsuguda and Satindra Kumar Yadav, proprietor of SS Syndicate, Bhubaneswar. The duo is considered as the masterminds involved in the creation and operation of 13 fictitious firms, a statement issued by the Commissionerate of Commercial Tax and GST, Cuttack said.

While Agrawal was arrested in Jharsuguda, Yadav was nabbed in Bhubaneswar, it said.

The two masterminds in collusion with others, have availed and passed on bogus input tax credit (ITC) worth Rs 323 crore by raising fake purchase and sale invoices to the tune of Rs 1,819 crore in the name of 13 fictitious/non-existent business entities. Taking advantage of simplification of GST newly introduced, the fraud has been committed by them, the statement said.

The investigation took its origin from interception of goods vehicle supported by documents issued in the name of non-existing and fake firms. "During investigation, it was found that the route of this tax fraud has spread to different states like West

Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi.