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Mukesh Tandon
Tribune News Service
Panipat, January 7
All 21 non-existent firms in Panipat which issued Rs 470 crore fake bills without moving goods and evaded taxes worth Rs 49 crore were registered on the basis of fake documents, bank accounts and rent agreements.
The masterminds had uploaded fake rent agreements, fake bank account numbers and other details on the GST portal.
This was revealed during internal inquiry conducted by the Excise and Taxation Department in the last two months. No industry or firm was found on the address shown by owners of firms during physical verification.
The central GST teams and state Excise and Taxation Department had unearthed Rs 920 crore (Rs 450 crore by central GST team and Rs 470 crore by state GST team) bogus billing scam in Panipat three days ago.
The police on Sunday registered 21 FIRs in the case on the basis of the complaint and inquiry reports of the state Excise and Taxation Department.
As per sources, Milan Mega Mart Private Limited, one of the non-existent firms identified by the department, was registered in the name of Ajay Kumar Singh of Sonoli Mohammadpur in Bhiwani.
It had been registered on the address of plot number 70 of Sector 29 Part-2, HUDA, Panipat, with additional place of business at building 35, Sector 3, IMT, Manesar, Gurugram. During physical verification, both were found vacant.
Owners of both sites submitted their affidavits in the department that they did not give their properties on rent to anyone, the sources added.
The department summoned the manager of HDFC Bank at Gopalganj in Bihar under Section 70 of the GST to verify facts about the bank account used by the firm. The reply was in the negative.
It was revealed that the firm had applied for a Rs 50 lakh loan from the HDFC Bank at Gopalganj on the basis of the turnover, which was cancelled after department summoned the bank manager, said the sources. The firm had issued 465 invoices of Rs 99.18 crore and evaded taxes worth Rs 17.96 crore.
Another non-existent firm, Kumar Enterprises, was found registered in the name of a Kurukshetra resident. The company was found registered in the name of Rajinder Kumar Narwal of Model Town, Jhansa road, Thanesar, Kurukshetra. The address was near ward 7, chungi Sanoli road, Panipat.
The department summoned Rajinder Narwal. He stated that his documents were misused by Ravinder Kumar. The rent agreement for business premises, bank account and other details were found fake. The firm had issued 791 invoices of taxable value of Rs 35 crore and evaded taxes worth Rs 2 crore.
Raja Rama Nain, Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (Sales), and Deputy Commissioner, State Tax (GST), said around 30 units had been registered under GST in Panipat.
The common fact which was revealed during internal inquiries was that owners of these 21 non-existent firms had uploaded fake rent agreements for business premises, bogus addresses and bogus bank account numbers on the portal and got GSTN easily, he added.
All officers had been directed to verify the newly registered firms physically and on the portal regularly. The survey was underway and more firms involved in such business could be identified, he added.
Another fake firm booked
Gurugram: The Local Excise and Taxation Department has moved to Gurugram police against a fake firm for alleged GST fraud. The firm, by the name of Priti Industries, being run by Nathupur resident Devender Singh in collaboration with five friends from Rewari, has been accused of duping both state and central ministry of revenue. The firm had not paid GST since being registered and this made the department suspicious. Further investigation revealed that as per its papers submitted to the department, the firm was involved in sale and purchase of musical instruments but its online portal claimed that they sold cattle fodder. This lead to further suspicion and a team raided the mentioned address but found no such firm there. The accused have been identified as Charan Singh, Amit Kumar, Praveen, Naveen and Anupam Singla. TNS
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