GST department have arrested three persons involved in floating 17 fake firms and wrongfully availing credit on taxes paid on input worth Rs 436 crore by issuing fake invoices.

Officers of the Central GST Delhi East Commissionerate detected that the fraudulently availed input tax credit by these firms was used to file refund claims to the tune of Rs 11.55 crore, an official statement said.

"During investigation it came to light that a major Hawala operation was being run by the accused persons in connivance with certain bank employees (under investigation)," the statement issued by CGST Delhi East said.

During investigation it was found that the 17 firms existed only on paper and had been floated for passing on input tax credit by generation of fake invoices. The three accused --  were arrested on March 1 and remanded to judicial custody till March 13.

The trio, operating a total of 17 fake firms, procured invoices without actual supply of goods and availed and passed on input tax credit fraudulently to the tune of Rs 436 crore.

The accused are related to each other and were evading investigation for the last one month. #casansaar (Source - PTI, Economic Times)