The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): In a major development in the investigation of a substantial GST fraud, the Noida Police announced on Thursday the attachment of immovable assets valued at Rs 7 crore. These assets belong to two individuals from Delhi, identified as Anchit Goyal and Pradeep Goyal, and are located in the Adarsh Nagar area. This action follows a similar move just a day earlier, where police attached Rs 5 crore worth of assets in Rohini, linked to two other suspects in the same case.
The origins of this investigation trace back to June 2023, when the police uncovered a massive scheme involving more than 3,077 fake companies. These entities were used to illegitimately claim input tax credits, resulting in fraudulent transactions totaling around Rs 10,000 crore. The scope of the scam has led to the arrest of over two dozen individuals thus far.
The recent property attachments were carried out under an order from a Gautam Buddh Nagar court, as per section 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This section allows for the attachment of properties owned by individuals who are evading the law. To date, assets approximately worth Rs 12 crore related to this GST scam have been seized by the police. The authorities have expressed their commitment to continuing such stringent actions in the future.
The police spokesperson elaborated on the details of the case, noting that an FIR was registered at the Sector 20 police station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those pertaining to cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. The investigation was sparked by an incident where fraudsters used the PAN details of a journalist to register bogus companies, one each in Punjab and Maharashtra, while an attempt to set up a third company in Delhi was thwarted by GST authorities.