Jamshedpur: The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Jamshedpur regional unit, has arrested a scrap trader for his alleged role in a fake GST invoicing racket involving fraudulent transactions worth nearly Rs 100 crore, agency sources informed on Thursday. Ajay Sharma, 45, a resident of Baridih under Sidhgora police station limits, was arrested by DGGI officials and remanded to judicial custody late on Wednesday.According to investigators, Sharma allegedly issued fake invoices without any actual supply of scrap, creating paper transactions to enable fraudulent GST claims. Preliminary investigations conducted by a DGGI team led by joint director Abhinav Kumar revealed that the alleged scam was in operation since 2023.Official sources said Sharma allegedly had links with an inter-state syndicate involving prominent scrap traders Vicky Bhalotia, Shiv Deora and Amit Gupta. The three traders are already lodged in Hotwar Central Jail in Ranchi in connection with separate multi-crore GST fraud and fake invoicing cases.The DGGI alleged that Sharma registered two bogus firms and used them to generate and pass on large amounts of fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) to various beneficiaries.Investigators are now probing the full scale of the racket, including its financial trail and possible links with traders operating in other states. Officials said further arrests and disclosures are likely as the investigation progresses.
