Five GST officials held in Telangana for Rs 46 crore refund fraud

Hyderabad police have arrested five GST officials in seven cases of GST refund fraud involving about Rs 46 crore.

Hyderabad Central Crime Station, Detective Department said on Saturday that it arrested the officials of different circles in the state.

The arrests were made in connection with the seven cases registered by CCS against seven bogus electric bike manufacturing companies.

The arrested include Peetala Swarna Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, GST, Nalgonda Division, Kelam Venu Gopal, Assistant Commissioner (State Taxes), Abids Circle, Podila Viswa Kiran, Assistant Commissioner (State Taxes), Madhapur-1 Circle, Vemavarapu Venkata Ramana, Deputy State Tax Officer, GST, Madhapur-II Circle and Marri Mahitha, Senior Assistant, Madhapur-III Circle.

According to police, the officials had conspired with the accused, who had started bogus electric bike manufacturing units. The accused started bogus firms by collecting electricity bills from the owners of the premises in Hyderabad. They later registered firms in the GST portal by submitting fake and fabricated rental agreements.

The accused criminally conspired with their tax consultant Chiraag Sharma, created fake and fabricated invoices, e-way bills and inward supply bills in the name of fake and bogus firms, showing non-existent companies as existing and filed GST refunds by offering bribes to the state government GST officials and claimed the GST refunds.

Police said the accused caused wrongful loss to the government exchequer, without manufacturing e-bikes. The GST officials criminally conspired with other accused persons, accepted bribes, and misappropriated the public funds by using their official power deliberately disobeying the rules and procedures laid down in their department.

The police had earlier arrested Chiraag Sharma, tax consultant from New Delhi, Vemireddy Raja Ramesh Reddy, and Mummagari Giridhar Reddy, both natives of Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh and Kondragunta Vineel Chowdary, native of Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh.

The cases were registered against Vinardh Automobiles Pvt. Ltd., represented by Vemireddy Raja Ramesh Reddy, Yoko electric bikes represented by Neeraj Sakhuja, Crox Electric Bikes of Inder Kumar, Growmore Electric Vehicles and Apex Electric Bikes of M. Giridhar Reddy and Vineel Chowdary, Supriya Electric Bikes of Supriya Pandey and Magnum Electric Bikes, represented by Gourav.

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