Three more arrests in GST fraud case in Noida, total arrests now 18

Three more members of a gang involved in a ?10,000 crore GST fraud have been arrested, bringing the total arrests to 18. The gang registered thousands of companies under stolen or fake identities to generate e-way bills and obtain input tax credit from the government. The arrested suspects were involved in fake invoicing and collecting and transferring money received through fake GST bills. The police have recovered mobile phones, Aadhaar cards, tax invoice documents, and impounded two cars from the trio. The investigation team has frozen over 24 bank accounts linked to the fraudulent activities.

Three more members of the gang involved in the multi-crore GST fraud, which came to fore last month, have been arrested, police said on Monday. With this, the total arrests in this case have now reached 18, they added.

The three were arrested by the Sector 20 police on Sunday. All of them were involved in fake invoicing, said investigators. (HT Photo)

On June 1, the police claimed to have busted a gang suspected of orchestrating a ₹10,000 crore GST fraud. The operation involved registering thousands of companies under stolen or fake identities and utilising these firms to generate e-way bills and obtain input tax credit (ITC) from the government.

Police arrested eight suspects and exposed 2,660 fake companies during the investigation.

According to the police, the three arrested suspects have been identified as Amit alias Monty (42), Ajay alias Mintu (41) and Mahesh (20), all residents of Sirsa, Haryana.

“The three were arrested by the Sector 20 police on Sunday. All of them were involved in fake invoicing. They are part of a larger syndicate, whose 15 members have been arrested earlier,” additional deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said.

“They had executed transactions in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) and parts of Haryana. These miscreants were expanding their business in Sirsa and nearby districts. Our teams have identified their accomplices and are working to nab them as well,” said Avasthy.

Police have recovered seven mobile phones with allegedly fraudulently procured sim cards, three Aadhaar cards, and six tax invoice documents, and impounded two cars from the trio on Sunday, said Avasthy.

The police have sent a re-KYC (know your customer) request has been sent to two telecom service providers whose sim cards were being used by the suspects.

“This request is related to the issuance of 1,700+ SIM cards by a vendor who is an accused in the case. The investigation team aims to verify the identities associated with these SIM cards and gather additional evidence,” the ADCP said.

The special investigation team of the Gautam Budh Nagar police, which was constituted to investigate the fraud has so far successfully identified and frozen over 24 bank accounts linked to the fraudulent activities, said Avasthy.

“These accounts hold a balance exceeding ₹56 lakh, and their freezing will help prevent any further illegal transactions or asset movement. The team has received valuable data from the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) regarding all firms. This data includes information on their registrations and other relevant details that will aid us in identifying connections, patterns, and potential evidence related to the case,” Avasthy said.

The three suspects have been booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 467, 468 and 471 (all related to forgery), 120 B (party to criminal conspiracy) and sent to jail, police added.