New Delhi: In a major crackdown on tax fraud, the Delhi government’s GST Department has unearthed a Rs 14 crore scam involving fake firms set up solely to claim bogus Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds. One person has been arrested so far, and authorities have managed to recover Rs 1.16 crore, with further investigations underway.
According to officials, four non-existent companies were created to impersonate legitimate businesses and generate fraudulent refund claims. What makes this case unprecedented is the technology-driven approach used by the department, big data
analysis, banking transaction tracing, and digital footprint mapping were employed to expose the fraud.
The probe revealed multiple entities sharing the same PAN, phone numbers, and email IDs, strong indicators of a coordinated racket. The Department immediately suspended GST registrations of the Delhi-based firms and alerted authorities in other states for action on linked entities.
One of the accused, identified as Bunty, son of Harish Chander, and proprietor of one of the shell firms, was arrested in Delhi and remanded to police custody after being produced in court. An FIR has been lodged with the Economic Offences Wing.
Forty-five bank accounts linked to 27 entities have been frozen to prevent further diversion of funds. Officials confirmed that some of the money trails led to Hong Kong and Singapore. A report has been sent to the Department of Revenue for international follow-up.
“This decisive action reaffirms our zero-tolerance approach to GST fraud,” a senior GST official said. “These scams drain public money and punish honest taxpayers. We are committed to protecting the GST system and will act against every attempt to undermine it.”
The Department has also requested the Income Tax Department to block PANs associated with the fraud to prevent future misuse.