By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 19: The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Guwahati Unit, has unearthed a massive Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud worth nearly Rs 500 crore and arrested four persons on Monday in connection with the pan-India fake billing syndicate, allegedly involving illegal coke plants in Meghalaya.
The racket was being operated from multiple locations in Beltola area of Guwahati, as per reports.
The arrested persons have been identified as Gaurav Agarwal, Deepak Agarwal, Vinod Agarwal and Guddu Singh.
“The group was running a nationwide fake billing racket with strong links to illegal coke plants in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, extending its network across Assam, West Bengal and Delhi,” a DGGI official said.
Investigators revealed that the accused floated several shell companies and generated fake invoices to evade GST and launder illicit profits. “Based on specific intelligence inputs, DGGI teams carried out simultaneous raids at nearly ten locations in and around Beltola. Residences and offices of the accused were searched, resulting in the recovery of crucial documents and digital evidence,” the official said.
Officials estimate the fraud at around Rs 500 crore, though the figure is likely to increase as the probe intensifies.
“This is one of the biggest GST evasion cases detected in the region. The racket was spread across states and involved sophisticated billing manipulation methods,” a DGGI official stated.
The four accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the GST Act. Investigators are now interrogating them to expose the wider nexus and trace the money trail behind the scam.