535 cases of fake invoices involving ITC claims of Rs 2,565 cr detected in current fiscal

GST officers have booked 535 cases of fake invoices involving a total fraudulent claim of Rs 2,565 crore of input tax credit (ITC) and arrested 40 persons so far in the current financial year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Monday.

In 2018-19, 1,620 cases of fake invoices were registered involving fraudulent ITC claim of Rs 11,251 crore under the goods and services tax (GST). As many as 154 persons were arrested.

In the first year of the GST roll-out, between July 2017 and March 2018, two persons were arrested and five cases of fake invoices were booked involving an amount of Rs 12.67 crore, the minister said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

Sitharaman said the government has taken various measures to prevent GST evasion. These include a specialised directorate within the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) which is engaged in data analytics and risk management. It disseminates analytical reports and intelligence inputs to field formations of CBIC for the purpose of scrutiny, audit and enforcement to prevent GST evasion.

To a query, the minister said a total of 6,801 cases of bank fraud involving an amount of Rs 71,542.94 crore happened till 2018-19, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

In 2018-19, 2,836 cases of bank frauds occurred where amount involved was more than Rs 1 lakh, with the total amount involved being Rs 6,734.60 crore.

As many as 1,379 cases of bank fraud occurred in 2017-18 involving an amount of Rs 7,247 crore, while in 2016-17, 699 fraud cases took place where amount involved was Rs 7,670.32 crore.

In 2015-16, there were 535 cases involving an amount of Rs 9,890.84 crore, while in 2014-15, there were 413 cases of bank frauds involving Rs 9,484.60 crore.