ACB seeks details of 85 deliveries in multi-crore scam in Delhi

The Delhi government anti-corruption branch (ACB) has sent notices to the state drug controls department and customs department, asking them to share records of the 85 export deliveries that a 54-year-old goods and services tax (GST) officer — arrested on August 12 on charges of forging invoices — allegedly certified in the 2021-22 fiscal.

The development comes days after GST officer Babita Sharma and six others were arrested for allegedly forging invoices worth ₹718 crore for a gain to the tune of ₹54 crore in the trade and taxes department of the Delhi government.

According to ACB officials, the accused forged purchase bills of medicines and managed to get clearances from both the drugs controls department and customs officials to get GST refunds from the trade and taxes department. During investigation, ACB officials found records of 85 export deliveries made by the accused.

Joint commissioner Madhur Verma, the ACB chief, said Sharma was sanctioning bogus refunds to her associates Raj Singh Saini, Narendra Kumar Saini, and Mukesh Saini. “The three ran over 96 bogus firms dealing in the export of medicines and medical equipment. They managed to get more than ₹54 crores in refunds in a year. All the documents had Sharma’s approval,” Verma said.

Investigators revealed that the accused posed as owners of medicine and medical equipment firms, and allegedly forged “huge” purchase bills by showing that they export medicines to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and other countries.

In a few cases, ACB officials said, the accused would change the amount from thousands to lakhs in purchase bills, which they would then procure from factories around Delhi-NCR.

The accused also allegedly used the help of transporters to produce forged e-way bills and receipts. Police last week had arrested two transporters involved in the case.

“The three Sainis managed to get clearances from the drugs control department without actually sending a medicine abroad. They produced forged purchase bills which the department cleared. We also called the owners of these medicine brands who revealed all invoices were fake,” an investigator said, on condition of anonymity.

Manoj Goyal, the proprietor of a few other bogus firms, was also separately arrested.

After clearance from the drugs and control department, the Sainis then approached customs to get documents for the deliveries. “We do not know how, but they managed to get approvals from there as well. We have sent both the departments notices,” the investigator said.

To get GST refunds, ACB officials said the export company must have a bank realisation certificate (a document showing the delivery has been made and the amount has been credited into the seller’s account). Police said the accused didn’t have a single BRC with them.

A second investigator said customs officials also check BRC and hence they have been asked how the forged papers were approved.

“The trade and tax department gave us records showing the accused made 85 deliveries in a year. We approached the drug control department who could only provide us with documents of 31 deliveries. They said they don’t have a few old records. We are checking what we can do,” the second official said.

The trade and taxes department said they found that more than 500 non-existent firms that are involved in a similar medicine export business have claimed GST refunds in crores over the last three years. Police said the firms had no offices, dealers, or even Aadhaar verification, but were still allowed to operate by the department and claim refunds.

“Sharma and her associates are involved in many of these firms. The Sainis alone own 96 of these firms. We have identified at least 500 such companies which have been receiving these funds in crores. It is practically very difficult to find out the actual chain of sale and procurement of all the firms since collusion of officers from multiple departments is involved,” said a senior officer in the GST department.

HT reached out to the Delhi government and the customs department, but did not receive a response to queries at the time of going to print.