GST officers arrest alleged mastermind for creating 115 fake firms to avail Rs 50 crore ITC

New Delhi: GST officers in Vadodara have arrested an alleged mastermind who is charged of creating 115 fake firms to avail input tax credit (ITC) worth Rs 50.24 crore fraudulently by issuing fake invoices, sources said on Wednesday. As part of a nationwide drive against fake invoices, the Central GST Commissionerates and the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) have so far arrested 59 persons, including a woman mastermind and three chartered accountants, and booked 793 cases and identified 2,802 such entities involved.

Sources said the GST investigation arm DGGI has written to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to take obligatory action for alleged professional misconduct by the three chartered accountants (CAs) who have been arrested in Ludhiana and Hyderabad in the GST fake invoices probe.

The CGST and DGGI officers have arrested the alleged mastermind, who is charged of creating 115 fake firms to avail and passed on fraudulent ITC worth of Rs 50.24 crore on fake invoices of miscellaneous goods/services in Vadodara, the sources said.