GST scam: Noida cops nab Haryana man, number of arrests reaches 45

Noida, May 25, 2024 

The Noida Police on Saturday arrested a 45-year-old Haryana-based man in connection with its probe into the multi-crore alleged GST scam, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 45, officials said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said the police had been looking for accused Anshul Goyal, who hails from Sirsa (Haryana), for the last eight-nine months.

“The accused, who was absconding in connection with the GST scam probe, has been arrested after a joint action by the Crime Response Team and officials of the Sector 20 police station,” Avasthy said.

“Accused Anshul Goyal’s main work included floating bogus companies and generating fake invoices on their names. A court here had recently ordered action under CrPC Section 82 against Goyal,” the officer said.

The police said a reward of Rs 25,000 was declared on Goyal’s arrest over the alleged multi-crore fraud in which so far 45 people have been arrested.

Known as the ‘GST Scam’, the case came to light in June 2023 and pertains to revenue loss to the exchequer through input tax credit being claimed by thousands of bogus companies floated using forged documents.

Police investigations have shown the involvement of hundreds of bogus firms and transactions of around Rs 10,000 crore from them, and so far more than two dozen people have been arrested in the case, according to officials involved in the probe.

The police said an FIR in connection with the case was lodged at the Sector 20 police station of Noida under IPC Sections 420 (cheating), 467, 468, 471 (all related to forgery) and 120B (party to criminal conspiracy).

The case had come to light in 2023 after thugs had applied for the registration of bogus companies by fraudulently using PAN details of a journalist and got two firms registered – one in Punjab and another in Maharashtra – while request for a third in Delhi was rejected by the GST authorities.

[The Print]