Etawah (UP), Feb 3 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Police arrested five members of an organised gang on Tuesday for allegedly being involved in large-scale Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion through fake firms, uncovering a revenue loss of about Rs 7.03 crore, officials said.

The accused created shell firms and issued fake tax invoices without any actual supply of goods to illegally generate and pass on input tax credit (ITC), Senior Superintendent of Police Brijesh Kumar Srivastava said.

Three people were arrested earlier in the matter, while five others were held on Tuesday, the officer said.

During searches, police recovered a laptop, fake GST invoices and e-bills, and an unregistered car, he added.

The case came to light after GST officials lodged seven FIRs at different police stations in Etawah in connection with suspected fraud.

Investigations revealed that firms such as M/s ML Builders and M/s Bharat Building Material issued fake invoices to show inflated turnover and generate illegal ITC, causing substantial loss to the exchequer.

Police said similar fraud was detected in Kotwali, Friends Colony and Jaswantnagar police station areas, indicating the involvement of a single organised racket.

A special investigation team constituted at the district level analysed call data records, GST portal activity, banking transactions and other digital evidence, besides questioning chartered accountants.

Police said the accused used documents of unsuspecting individuals to obtain fake GST registrations and earned commissions of about 2.5 per cent for passing on ITC to traders and contractors.

Further investigation is underway to trace the money trail and identify other beneficiaries of the fraud, officials added. PTI COR KIS OZ OZ

GST fraud uncovered in Etawah: shell firms issued fake invoices to illegally generate and transfer input tax credit, triggering a probe. An organised racket in Etawah allegedly used shell firms and fake tax invoices to generate and transfer input tax credit without supply, causing an estimated Rs 7.03 crore GST revenue loss; a special team analysed call data, GST portal activity, banking transactions and questioned accountants to trace registrations, commissions paid for passing on illegal input tax credit, and follow the money trail.