The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has successfully arrested two individuals, Manish and his brother Amit, who are accused of masterminding a massive fake billing GST fraud worth over Rs700 crores. The duo, residents of Gurmukh Singh Colony in Mandi Gobindgarh, allegedly ran an extensive fraudulent operation involving the creation of fake companies through identity theft. These fictitious entities generated false invoices and input tax credit (ITC) claims, leading to a tax loss of more than Rs100 crore for the government.
According to DGGI officials, the brothers operated a network of dummy firms that funneled the fraudulently claimed ITC to intermediary companies. The illicit funds were then transferred into seven APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) accounts, from which the brothers made cash withdrawals totaling over Rs717 crore, primarily from a single bank branch.
During raids conducted at the brothers’ residential and business locations, DGGI agents confiscated key evidence, including 11 mobile phones, seven pen drives, two laptops, 56 cheque books linked to various bank accounts, 27 identity documents, seven rubber stamps, and 46 ATM cards belonging to different individuals.
Both Manish and Amit admitted to their roles in the scam and were arrested on October 9. They have since been remanded to judicial custody as the investigation unfolds.
DGGI officials in Ludhiana are now focusing on uncovering additional dummy firms and uncovering more fraudulent activities tied to this scam. With a rise in such cases, authorities are stepping up efforts to combat fake billing and tax evasion, with further arrests anticipated in the coming weeks.
