GST fraud case: DGGI officials recover Rs 1.7 Cr from bank locker in Vizag

It may be recalled that officials arrested 48 year-old-man VV Subba Reddy for running 90 ponzy companies. He had issued fake invoices to the tune of Rs 425 crore and availed fraudulent input tax credit to the tune of Rs 75 crore two years ago. This is the biggest GST fraud detected by the officials.

Searches were conducted at Guntur, Bhimavaram, and Hyderabad in coordination with the office of DGGI, Hyderabad. Officials found signed blank cheque books of several dummy firms, fake invoices, and bank account details.

On interrogation, the man confessed to the crime and admitted to having issued fake invoices using dummy firms. He also admitted to having generated fraudulent input tax credit without actual supply or receipt of goods.

These dummy firms were registered by using PAN/Aadhar details of known acquaintances of the accused. After obtaining GST registration in their names, the accused claimed to have transacted business. The accused operated several bank accounts of the dummy firms from a single branch in Guntur.

As a part of the investigation, the officials found a locker in a private bank in Guntur. When the officials tried to open the locker, he approached AP High Court citing that it was a violation of his rights. The GST officials also filed a counter-petition in the court citing that it was a part of the investigation. The court ordered opening the bank locker.

Additional Director of Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Vizag Mayank Sharma mentioned that they have recovered over Rs 40 crore from the accused. In addition to the cash, several incriminating documents were also seized from the locker.