On Friday, Hyderabad police apprehended five GST officials for their involvement in a large-scale GST refund scam totaling approximately Rs46 crore. The accused are identified as Peetala Swarna Kumar (Deputy Commissioner, GST, Nalgonda Division), Kelam Venu Gopal (Assistant Commissioner, State Taxes, Abids Circle), Podila Viswa Kiran (Assistant Commissioner, State Taxes, Madhapur-1 Circle), Vemavarapu Venkata Ramana (Deputy State Tax Officer, GST, Madhapur-II Circle), and Marri Mahitha (Senior Assistant, Madhapur-III Circle).
According to the Detective Department, the officials conspired with seven individuals who set up fake e-bike manufacturing businesses in Hyderabad. These bogus firms were registered using fabricated documents, including fake rental agreements, and electricity bills. The conspirators created phony invoices in the names of these non-existent businesses to fraudulently claim GST refunds.
Further investigations revealed that the accused GST officials were bribed to approve and process these fraudulent refund claims, thereby facilitating the scam. The police have now taken action against the involved parties and continue their probe into the extensive network behind the operation.
