A case of massive tax evasion has come to light in the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow where two traders have been accused of creating fake firms to fraudulently claim goods and services tax (GST) input credits amounting to nearly ₹51.74 crore.
Two FIRs had been registered against the duo at Vibhuti Khand and Bijnor police stations of Lucknow following complaints from officials of the state tax department on Monday and Wednesday respectively, confirmed senior officials here on Saturday.
According to assistant commissioner (state tax) Gaurav Kumar Rajpoot, on June 13, 2024, trader Haseeb Khan obtained a GST registration for a firm named HK Impax using fabricated documents. The address provided was shown to be on Ayodhya Road and an electricity bill was submitted as proof. However, upon verification, both the address and the electricity bill turned out to be fake.
When the officials visited the site, they found that no such firm existed. Further scrutiny of the records revealed that Khan had been issuing bogus invoices and claiming fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) worth around ₹25 crore. Following the discovery, an FIR was lodged against him at Vibhuti Khand police station on November 3 under relevant provisions of the GST Act and the IPC.
In a separate case, deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Tripathi from state tax division-19 stated that another trader Suvendu had registered a firm named Sun Enterprises in the Bijnor area on May 24, 2024. During inspection, the firm was found to be non-existent at the stated address. Subsequent investigation through the GST portal revealed that Suvendu had allegedly evaded ₹26.74 crore in taxes through fake transactions and fraudulent ITC claims. The department then filed a case at Bijnor police station.
Officials confirmed that all submitted documents are under forensic and administrative review and more names are likely to surface as the probe expands. A senior tax department official said, “The department has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards tax evasion. Strict legal action will be taken against anyone found involved in creating or operating bogus firms.”
Meanwhile, police have begun examining the case files and collecting documents from the department to build evidence for prosecution. The investigations mark one of the largest GST evasion crackdowns in recent months, underscoring the state’s intensified drive against financial fraud.
