Chandigarh, Oct 14 Punjab Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday said his department has unearthed a GST fraud to the tune of Rs 429.30 crore.
The Finance, Excise and Taxation minister said an FIR was registered in Ludhiana in connection with the finding, which was unravelled on the meticulous intelligence gathered by the state intelligence and preventive unit (SIPU).
Authorities have booked a transporter, among others, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, Cheema said in a statement.
The minister said a state tax officer from SIPU, Ludhiana, intercepted a vehicle transporting goods purportedly from Delhi to Punjab on September 30. The revelation could be merely the tip of the iceberg, he said.
The minister said that while the accompanying e-way bills and invoices indicated supplies to three Punjab-based firms, the declared recipients flatly denied placing any such orders or purchasing the goods when contacted.
Cheema pointed out that the subsequent investigation exposed a well-orchestrated syndicate moving goods via non-genuine documents.
“By connecting the dots through advanced data analytics and e-way bill records, our department identified a labyrinth of 62 interconnected firms operating across various states, with 25 of these firmly rooted in Punjab,” he said.
The syndicate has been operating predominantly since the last financial year.
“The transporter allegedly acted as a linchpin by receiving fake invoices from other entities,” he said.
The minister said the matter has been handed over to the police for a criminal investigation into the entire network.
Simultaneously, he has directed the taxation department to initiate a rigorous drive to scrutinise all linked beneficiary dealers, assess wrongful input tax credit, and recover every single penny of the tax, interest, and penalty due.
“Those generating or utilising fraudulent documents to evade taxes will face the music. Intermediaries and transporters who knowingly facilitate such crimes will also be brought within the ambit of accountability,” Cheema said.
(PTI News)
