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The agency has alleged that fake export bills were created for amounts less than `10 lakh, which is the highest amount that a customs superintendent is allowed to clear (Representative image/Express File/Gayathri Mani)
The CBI on Saturday searched seven locations in Bihar and Jharkhand in connection with a `100-crore scam, allegedly executed by claiming GST through bogus export bills. Five customs officers, including the additional commissioner GST, Patna, have been named in the fraud, officials said.
The CBI conducted searches at two locations in Patna, two in Purnea, and one each in Jamshedpur, Nalanda, and Munger, finding seven bars of gold, each weighing 100 grams, they said.
The scam was unearthed when an abnormal increase in exports of tiles and automobile parts to Nepal was noticed in Land Customs Stations (LCS) in Jaynagar, Bhimnagar and Bhittamore during 2022-23, officials said.
According to the CBI FIR, around 30 exporters have been named in it, having been accused of showing fake export of tiles and automobile spare parts from the three LCS to get tax refund from the GST office.
It is alleged that four customs superintendents — Neeraj Kumar and Manmohan Sharma in Jayanagar, and Tarun Kumar Sinha and Rajeev Ranjan Sinha in Bhimnagar — colluded with Additional Commissioner Ranvijay Kumar to extract tax refunds against fake export claims, in return for bribes.
All officials, along with 30 suspected exporters, and a Kolkata-based clearing agent, Ganga Singh, have been named in the FIR as accused.
The agency has alleged that fake export bills were created for amounts less than `10 lakh, which is the highest amount that a customs superintendent is allowed to clear.
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The CBI FIR alleged that, in all, fake exports to the tune of `800 crore were shown by these superintendents with goods carrying GST duties of 28% and 18%, two of the higher GST slabs, which enabled them to claim refunds of around `100 crore.
The investigation also showed that the firms were not functioning from their registered address.
The abnormal increase in exports was allegedly ignored by Ranvijay Kumar, who gave “oral instructions” to the superintendents to process Let Export Order (LEO) in respect of shipping bills.
Besides this, he allegedly used to pass the details of fake exports to be processed at these LCS either directly or through Ganga Singh, the CBI said.
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