The Directorate of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence, Ghaziabad Regional Unit has busted a syndicate involved in creating and controlling fake firms and issuing of bills by these fake firms without supply any Goods or Services and encashment of GST refund.

After developing precise Intelligence, two office premises were searched from where various incriminating documents/things pertaining to more than 200 fake firms were recovered  i.e.  mobile phones, digital signatures, debit cards, PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, photos of persons, rent agreements,  laptops,  pen drives, rubber stamps, keys of offices, SIM cards, cheque books and some Kuccha records.

Further, in-depth investigation was conducted which revealed that the data of this network is being compiled and used from the cloud. After analysis of the evidences and data, it was revealed that this network consists of 275 bogus firms which exist only on paper. These firms have issued fake invoices having total value of ₹ 3,189 crore involving total GST evasion of ₹ 362 crore.

One of the key persons who was instrumental in collection of identities of individuals for creation of fake firms namely Sh. Tinku Yadav was arrested earlier. Based on the information given by Sh. Tinku Yadav  and analysis of IP addresses, the actual masterminds of the network namely Sh. Vipin Kumar Gupta alias Nikku, and Sh. Yogesh Mittal have been apprehended and arrested. It has been learnt that both Sh. Vipin Kumar Gupta and Shri Yogesh Mittal are habitual offenders. Both the offenders have been arrested by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier.

GST fraud network exposed, leading to arrests and seizure of records revealing widespread bogus firms and fake invoicing. The DGGI Ghaziabad investigated a syndicate operating paper-only entities and using cloud-stored data to issue fake invoices and claim refunds. Searches yielded devices, identity documents, digital signatures and other evidentiary material linking over 200 fictitious firms. Forensic analysis identified 275 bogus firms and quantified the aggregate invoicing and tax liability; arrests were made based on identity evidence and IP analysis, including two alleged masterminds and a previously arrested facilitator.