A 19-year-old youth whose name is Sanket Mittal was involved in fraudulently availing Input Tax Credit under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime by misusing B2C credit from online mobile sales (like Amazon, Flipkart, Appario).
Nature of the Fraud
The case was - this 19 year old boy claimed Input Tax Credit using fake B2C (Business-to-Consumer) invoices, particularly from mobile phone sales on online platforms.
He allegedly obtained IMEI numbers of iPhones sold to individual consumers from online platforms through suspicious channels.
The IMEIs were shown as if the phones were purchased by businesses (B2B) to wrongly avail ITC.
Legal Action Taken
Sanket Mittal was arrested by the CGST Faridabad Commissionerate after the investigations and found - estimating a fraud amount of ₹64.25 crore.
One more individual, Naveen Tayal were also arrested, who was involved with him.
Both were sent to 14-day judicial custody by the Faridabad District Court.
The authorities have found that the ITC was wrongfully claimed without any actual supply of goods or legitimate transactions.
Bail Proceedings
Sanket Mittal had applied for bail but he withdrew his bail application before the court possibly in light of the serious nature of evidence presented by the authorities or due to legal strategy.
GST Authorities' Stand
GST officials highlighted the scale of the fraud and the misuse of e-commerce data for tax evasion. The case reflects increasing scrutiny on online sellers and the misuse of credit chains.
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