A man who had been evading the police for nine months has finally been arrested in connection with a huge GST fraud worth Rs 10,000 crore. The man, named Babar Khan, allegedly created fake companies using stolen or forged ID cards to fraudulently claim input tax credit.
Last year on June 1, the Noida police claimed to have uncovered a gang involved in this GST fraud. They discovered that the gang had registered thousands of companies using stolen or fake identities. These companies were then used to generate e-way bills and obtain input tax credit from the government.
With the arrest of Khan, a total of 47 people have now been apprehended in connection with the scam. These individuals come from various locations such as Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Sirsa, Jaipur, Chhindwara, and more.
On June 3 of this year, charges under the Gangster Act were filed against 33 out of the 47 arrested individuals. The case started to unravel when the gang attempted to register bogus companies using the PAN details of a journalist. They successfully registered two firms in Punjab and Maharashtra, but their request for a third in Delhi was rejected by the GST authorities.
According to Shakti Avasthy, DCP (crime), Khan was captured at his home in Loni by a team from the Sector 20 police station. “He had been on the run for nine months. Around six months ago, the Noida police announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for his arrest. Our preliminary investigation revealed that he would convince vulnerable people to share their Aadhaar cards. He would then pass these documents to other members of the gang who would use them to create fake companies and claim input tax credit,” explained the DCP.
Although Khan had been associated with the gang since 2021, it is unclear how many fake IDs he had forged. He was taken into judicial custody after being presented in court on Thursday.
In other news, the online gaming industry is still waiting for updates. During the recent GST Council Meeting chaired by Nirmala Sitharaman, the focus was on trade enhancements and taxpayer relief. However, there was no discussion about revising the 28% GST rate for online gaming. Several agenda items were postponed to the next meeting, which is scheduled for mid to late-August.