Fake firms exposed in Raipur, mastermind arrested

Raipur. Based on special intelligence and data analysis, it was revealed that many fake firms were formed to wrongly avail and pass on fake input tax credit of GST. After extensive surveillance, the place was identified from where suspicious activities were being conducted. Acting on this, officials of Fake Invoice Cell, CGST, Headquarters, Raipur conducted a search operation and exposed a network of 13 fake firms. Who were actively engaged in merely making fake invoices without making any supply of goods and/or services.

During the search, a large number of Aadhar cards, PAN cards, photographs, signed check books, mobile phones along with many other incriminating documents were recovered. In this regard, it is noteworthy that GST returns of all the fake firms were being filed from the same IP address. Investigation revealed that Raipur resident Hemant Kasera is the mastermind in creating and running these fake firms. When interrogated with facts and evidence, mastermind Hemant Kasera admitted to forming a group of fake firms for the purpose of passing fake input tax credit and admitted that he had passed fake input tax credit amounting to Rs 62.73 crore till February 2024. and has further passed on fake input tax credit of Rs 51.42 crore to other taxpayers.

Accordingly, Hemant Kasera was arrested and produced in the court on 03 April 2024 under Section 69(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 by the Central GST Team and the CJM Court has granted judicial custody of the accused. CGST Raipur has taken strict enforcement action against tax evaders and especially against taxpayers involved in the business of fake billing. With these arrests, the number of persons arrested by CGST Raipur Commissionerate in connection with fake billing since the implementation of the GST law has increased to 15.