The Noida Police announced on Wednesday that they have arrested two businessmen from Haryana who are believed to be the masterminds behind a ₹10,000 crore GST fraud case. The suspects, identified as Ajay Sharma and Sanjay Jindal, are multimillionaires who own metal and scrap factories. Over the past three years, they have fraudulently availed input tax credits (ITCs), resulting in significant financial loss to the government.
The investigation revealed that the suspects had fraudulently claimed over ₹26 crore in ITCs from the government. The police have seized this amount from their bank accounts. The gang involved in the fraud would create thousands of bogus companies using stolen or fake identities, which they would then use to generate e-way bills and obtain ITCs from the government.
The suspects, who were arrested from their residences in Sonipat, were found to be the end claimants of the input tax credit. Through bills in the name of non-existent bogus firms, they would set off their tax liability. Their fraudulent activities have caused a loss of over ₹26 crore to the exchequer. So far, the police have arrested a total of 32 suspects in connection with the case.
Sanjay Jindal, the owner and director of M/s Brownie Metal and Alloys Pvt Ltd, had taken bills from 20 shell firms and claimed a credit of ₹17 crore. Ajay Sharma, the owner and director of M/s Crystal Industries, claimed bills from six shell firms and claimed ITC worth over ₹8.5 crore. The Noida police had previously declared a reward of ₹25,000 for information leading to their arrest.
It is worth noting that the suspects had been arrested by the GST department in July of the previous year after a list of 3,000 fake firms registered by the gang was shared with them. However, they were released on bail after spending two months in jail in Haryana. The Noida police have now arrested them on criminal charges related to running the scam. The suspects have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
