Guwahati: The Bureau of Investigation of Economic Offences (BIEO) on Tuesday apprehended a crucial suspect involved in a GST fraud case.
The suspect, Atish Kumar Tiwari, 21, who operates a business establishment in Arunachal Pradesh, was arrested following investigations related to a case (number 14/2023) registered at the BIEO police station.
Tiwari and his accomplice Vivek Gupta, who have been involved in the illegal sale of fake invoices, were arrested after a thorough investigation.
The BIEO probe revealed that Tiwari and Gupta had created two fictitious business entities (M/s Amit Traders and M/s Deepak Enterprises) and had used these to issue fraudulent invoices to various business establishments in Arunachal Pradesh.
The fake invoices were for transactions involving non-existent goods, enabling them to claim input tax credit for financial gains and also, causing substantial losses to the government, the investigation found.
It might be noted that Input Tax Credit (ITC) allows businesses to reduce their tax liabilities by claiming credits for the GST paid on their purchases. By issuing fake invoices and wrongfully claiming ITC, the accused engaged in a complex financial fraud that exploited the system.
Assistant commissioners of state tax in Guwahati filed complaints linking the firms to various business entities in Arunachal Pradesh. Alerted by these complaints, a special investigation team visited 30 business premises across Itanagar, Nirjuli, Naharlagun, Ziro, and Doimukh in Arunachal Pradesh during their week-long investigation.
Assam’s Economic Intelligence Unit played a key role in detecting the fraudulent activities of M/s Amit Traders and M/s Deepak Enterprises.
The investigating team found that M/s Amit Traders falsely purchased goods from M/s Shree Ram Enterprise in Arunachal Pradesh on March 31, 2023, amounting to Rs 32.35 crore. Shree Ram Enterprise then fraudulently claimed ITC of Rs 116 crore, and passed on Rs 5.91 crore to M/s Amit Traders.
Similarly, M/s Deepak Enterprises, operating with a fake address, engaged in the purchase of goods worth Rs 100.27 crore from multiple traders, including M/s Shree Ram Enterprise. Shree Ram Enterprise falsely claimed ITC of Rs 116 crore, with Rs 16.80 crore passed on to M/s Deepak Enterprise.
Dear Reader,
Every day, our team at EastMojo travels through rain, rough roads, and remote hills to bring you stories that matter – stories from your town, your people, your Northeast.
We do this because we believe in truthful, independent journalism. No big corporate backing, no government pressure – just honest reporting by local journalists who live and breathe the same air you do.
But to keep doing this work, we need you. Your small contribution helps us pay our reporters fairly, reach places others ignore, and keep asking the tough questions.
If you believe the Northeast deserves its own fearless voice, stand with us.
Support independent journalism. Be a Member.
Thank you,
Karma Paljor
Editor-in-Chief, eastmojo.com
The team discovered that both M/s Amit Traders and M/s Deepak Enterprise were non-existent dealers, and that the entities had submitted fabricated documents during their GST registration.
According to an official statement “Tiwari and Gupta had created the firms to use them as a platform to generate fake invoices and the modus operandi was to show purchase of goods from those business establishments only on paper.”
The BIEO and other authorities are conducting further investigation to prevent such fraudulent practices in the future, it added.
Also Read | Is northeast India united in its opposition to Uniform Civil Code?