Overview
- Lucknow Crime Branch arrested a key suspect and seized phones, debit cards, a cheque book and documents after tracing more than 100 GST registrations and roughly ₹2.5 crore in suspect transactions linked to paper firms.
- Punjab police booked five people in a separate probe that alleges at least 25 bank accounts were used to route about Rs 3,089.57 crore and 27 bogus firms were floated to claim about Rs 108.49 crore of fake input tax credit.
- Investigators say the gangs obtained GST registrations with forged rent and electricity bills and by using Aadhaar, PAN and bank KYC of financially vulnerable people to create shell companies and generate fake invoices.
- Enforcement agencies relied on telecom and IMEI analysis, bank transaction tracing and DGGI/ED data to map networks, recover KYC and banking material and begin freezing involved accounts.
- Authorities warn the cases expose weaknesses in GST registration and invoice-based credit checks and say further arrests and asset-tracing actions are likely as probes continue.