8cr GST fraud: Firm director sent to 14-day judicial custody

Kolkata: Central Goods and Services Tax officers of the anti-evasion unit in Kolkata started probe in a Rs 8 crore fraud case involving a network of fake GST entities engaged in availing of input tax credit (ITC). A director of a company was arrested on Monday and sent to 14 days' judicial custody by the Bankshall Court on Tuesday.According to CGST department sources, the officers spotted the Kharagpur-based company had fraudulently registered under GST without knowledge of the person in whose name the registration was obtained. When the officials tried to verify the declared places of business, they found no business activity was being carried out there. The company, which kept up a façade of a trading firm, raised hundreds of fake invoices encashed by other companies in its network. CGST sources said such fake invoices take two months for the system to notice. These firms take advantage of the window. — Rohit Khanna