IT detects Rs 18,000 cr bogus billing scam

New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) In a major crackdown on black money and hawala transactions, the Income Tax (IT) Department has detected Rs 18,000 crore bogus billings in the national capital, officials said on Monday.

A senior IT Department official said the department had carried out a series of searches and surveys for the past few weeks and busted three group operators indulging in the business of providing bogus entries and hawala transactions.

He said one such survey on a group in central Delhi's Naya Bazar led to the detection of over Rs 18,000 crore bogus billing. The group had floated 12 bogus entities for providing fake bills, he said.

Explaining break-up of bogus entries, the official said about 1,462 people/firms benefited by showing bogus entries of over Rs 8,211 crore through sales, while over Rs 5,590 crore was detected with 1,095 beneficiaries through purchases.

Another bogus entries of over Rs 3,851 crore through consignment of goods by 299 beneficiary firms was also detected.

In an another case, a highly organised money laundering racket was unearthed wherein current transactions in well-known shares were fraudulently camouflaged as being sales of old shares for years.

"In this way, the beneficiaries have been found claiming bogus long-term capital gains," he said, adding the magnitude of the scam unravelled so far has crossed Rs 1,000 crore. "This figure appears to be tip of the iceberg and this kind of transaction has been going on for years."

The official also said searches and surveys on a third group involved in hawala transactions and money laundering led to detection of undisclosed foreign bank accounts and a well-established racket of claiming bogus duty draw back/goods and services tax (GST) through over-pricing of exports.

"The preliminary estimates of such exports are more than Rs 1,500 crore," he said.

"Evidence of arranging foreign trips and foreign currency for people on foreign trips have also been found," he added.