Commercial Tax Dept. unearths inter-State GST racket by nabbing Rajasthan ‘fake bill trader' who facilitated bogus input tax credit claim of ₹39 crore
According to sources in the Commercial Taxes Department, fake bill trader Kailash Bishnoi, a resident of Jalore district in Rajasthan, was taken into custody in Bengaluru on Tuesday by a team comprising officers from the department's South Zone and Vigilance Division in coordination with the Bengaluru East police team.
17 fake firms
Department sources said Bishnoi had created 17 fake firms in Karnataka that have shown a total turnover of ₹208 crore, based on which nearly ₹39 crore of ITC was passed on to some manufacturers. Sources noted that ₹39 crore was a financial burden caused by Bishnoi on Karnataka alone.
Bishnoi was involved in the creation of fake GST registrations and bank accounts by fabricating Aadhaar cards, using which tax invoices were issued to the tune of several hundred crores to facilitate the fictitious movement of goods in metal scrap and facilitating the claim of bogus ITC by recipients, the department sources said.
Investigation into the case is learnt to have revealed that he has operated in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, creating fake firms and issuing tax invoices in association with his team members. The total quantum of the fraud would be much higher if the losses caused to other States is taken into account, officials explained.
The arrest of his associate Rohit alias Rohtash in December 2024 and gathering of several incriminating material and digital evidences pointing to their crime finally resulted in the department officials nailing Bishnoi.
Many fake documents
In September 2023, the accused, along with his accomplices, tried to open 10 bank accounts by providing fake names, Aadhaar cards and PAN cards in HDFC Bank's Murugeshpalya branch in Bengaluru. The bank's branch manager had noticed this and filed a complaint with the Jeevan Bima Nagar police.
The investigation team of the Bengaluru East police and the Commercial Taxes Department visited Rajasthan twice to track Bishnoi in the last six months. But he remained elusive as he was on constant move, changing locations in multiple States and using 14 mobile phone numbers to evade being tracked, sources said.
Finally, he was arrested on Tuesday by the warrant of the Special Court for Economic Offences, Bengaluru, and given custody for further inquiry. Officers of the Commercial Taxes Department are continuing their investigation and analysing his actions from various angles.
Ninth such case
Incidentally, this is the ninth such case being traced in the last 15 months by the Karnataka Commercial Taxes Department which is continuing its pursuit against such offences to ensure equitable taxation and safeguard the interests of both the State and its honest taxpayers.
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