2 billionaire traders, masterminds of multi-crore GST scam, arrested: Noida Police

Noida Police arrests billionaire businessmen behind ₹25 crore GST fraud, involving hundreds of bogus firms and ₹10,000 crore transactions.

In a breakthrough in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud case, the Noida Police on March 20 said it has arrested two Haryana-based "billionaire businessmen" who allegedly masterminded the multi-crore revenue loss to the exchequer.

The accused are in the business of metal scrap and have collectively caused a revenue loss of around ₹25 crore to the exchequer, a senior police officer said.

Known as the "GST scam", the case came to light in June 2023 and pertains to revenue loss to the exchequer through input-tax credit (ITC) being claimed by thousands of bogus companies that were floated using forged documents.

The police investigation has shown the involvement of hundreds of bogus firms and transactions of around ₹10,000 crore by those, and more than two dozen people have so far been arrested in the case, according to officials.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said a few months ago, a team from Noida's Sector 20 police station busted a racket and arrested some suspects who were allegedly behind floating around 2,600 bogus companies.

"In pursuance of that case, the masterminds of the racket who fraudulently claimed ITC from the government and caused revenue loss to the exchequer were arrested on Wednesday. The masterminds are billionaire businessmen and have been identified as Sanjay Jindal and Ajay Sharma," Mr. Avasthy told reporters here.

"Mr. Jindal runs a company by the name of AS Brownie Metal and Alloys located in the Sonipat district of Haryana. He fraudulently claimed ₹16.9 crore worth of ITC. This amount was later frozen by enforcement agencies. Mr. Sharma used six companies to cause a revenue loss of ₹8.57 crore. This amount was also frozen later by the GST department following a report by the Noida Police," the officer said.