The massive GST heist has been uncovered by probe agencies in national capital—Delhi after the funds worth over Rs 54 crore were sanctioned to 96 bogus firms.

Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has arrested seven people in the case. It includes a GST officer and three lawyers, who have been arrested by the Delhi (ACB) for their alleged involvement in a GST fraud.

Joint Commissioner of Police, ACB, Madhur Verma has told PTI that the accused were identified as GST officer Babita Sharma; advocates Raj Singh Saini, Narender Kumar Saini and Mukesh Soni; transporters Surjeet Singh and Lalit Kumar; and a proprietor of one of the fake firms, Manoj Goyal.

Modus Operandi: It is said while Sharma(GST officer) allegedly sanctioned refunds, the three advocates were the beneficiaries. Reports also said Surjeet Singh and Lalit Kumar used to provide fake e-way bills and also forged goods receipts to the three advocates in exchange for money, while Goyal also benefitted from the refunds.

How did probe agencies smell foul play in issuing refunds to the fake firms? It was In September 2021, the GST Department (Vigilance) sent a special team for physical verification of these firms.

However, the department found all these firms existed only on paper. The firms were found to be non-existent and non-functional during verification.

Later, in October that year, a preliminary inquiry into the matter was ordered under Additional Commissioner (Trade and Taxes) Vivek Aggarwal. Later, the matter was referred to the ACB for a detailed investigation on December 6.

What ACB found out? During the investigation, it was found that fraudulent GST refunds were approved by the GST officer without verification of Input Tax Credit, a crucial instrument in the identification of bogus refunds, incurring a direct loss to the government exchequer, reports mentioned.

In the case of 15 firms, there was neither Aadhaar authentication at the time of registration nor physical verification, they mentioned.

Besides, requisite NOCs from property owners in respect of 48 firms were also found to be prepared on July 26 and July 27, 2021. Also, five firms were found registered under the same PAN, e-mail ID and mobile number. Time-barred refund applications were sanctioned by the GST officer.

The bogus firms received fraudulent GST refunds totalling Rs 54.5 crore between July 1, 2017 and August 26, 2021, reports stated.