GST fraud? Gujarat cops register case to probe 200 shell companies created by criminals

The Ahmedabad crime branch of the Gujarat Police on Thursday registered a case for a thorough probe into the creation of more than 200 shell companies by a group of organised criminals.

According to news agency ANI, the case was registered after a reference was received from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) that sought an investigation into the creation of these shell entities, which enables criminals to fraudulently receive and pass on input tax credit in lieu of bogus invoices, without supplying any goods and services.

After registering the FIR, the Crime Branch and Gujarat's Economic Offences Wing raided 14 locations across the state.

According to the Crime Branch, more than 200 fraudulently created firms worked across the country in an "organised manner" to "defraud" the government exchequer by availing bogus input tax credits and forged documents and identities were used to create these firms for tax evasion.

(With PTI inputs)