The Cyber Police in Noida have arrested a former private firm employee for allegedly generating fake invoices of around Rs 10 crore to fraudulently claim an input tax credit of Rs 1.8 crore.
The accused, Abhinav Tyagi, a native of Moradabad currently living in Greater Noida’s Bisrakh area, was arrested on Saturday. Police said he worked in the accounts department of a company, where he handled Goods and Services Tax (GST) filings and tax-return portals and carried out the fraud with the help of an accomplice.
Fake invoices prepared for GST fraud
“On Saturday, the Cyber Police, Noida, arrested Abhinav Tyagi. He had prepared fake invoices amounting to about Rs 10 crore to claim GST of Rs 1.8 crore,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Shavya Goyal told PTI.
Officials recovered four mobile phones, eight SIM cards, a laptop, a car, GST-related documents and a rent agreement from the accused during the operation.
An FIR has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. Tyagi was produced before a court and sent to jail. Police said efforts are underway to trace and arrest his accomplice.
Similar incident from Visakhapatnam
In a similar incident in May, the GST Intelligence team in Visakhapatnam arrested Aboobakr Siddique Syed from Pernambut in Vellore for running a huge fake invoice scam. Officials said he created fake bills worth Rs 643.81 crore, which helped claim fake GST input tax credit of Rs 115.88 crore, causing a big loss to the government.
Investigators believe Syed set up a web of shell companies by stealing the identities of random people. His network was active in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Using these stolen identities, he managed to create more than 300 fake firms. These companies issued false invoices that allowed others to avoid paying taxes and divert large amounts of money from the government.