In a sweeping crackdown on a massive GST fraud, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday carried out searches at seven locations across Bihar and Jharkhand, unearthing a Rs. 100-crore scam linked to bogus export claims.
The alleged conspiracy involves five customs officials, including a senior Additional Commissioner posted in Patna, who are accused of facilitating fake tax refunds in exchange for bribes.
The fake export bills allegedly covered goods taxed at the higher 18% and 28% GST slabs, enabling inflated refund claims. The total volume of fraudulent exports is estimated at ₹800 crore, with wrongful tax refunds nearing ₹100 crore.
CBI teams searched two locations each in Patna and Purnea, and one location each in Jamshedpur, Nalanda, and Munger. During the raids, investigators seized seven gold bars, each weighing 100 grams, reportedly linked to the proceeds of the crime.
According to the FIR registered by the CBI, the fraud was detected after officials noticed a suspicious surge in the export of tiles and automobile parts to Nepal during 2022–23. These exports were routed through the Land Customs Stations (LCS) at Jaynagar, Bhimnagar, and Bhittamore — all near the Indo-Nepal border.
The CBI has named around 30 exporters in its complaint, alleging that they filed fraudulent export claims using fake invoices to obtain GST refunds. The scam reportedly involved presenting bogus exports below ₹10 lakh — the financial threshold up to which customs superintendents can independently clear shipments — to avoid triggering scrutiny.
The FIR further names four customs superintendents — Neeraj Kumar and Manmohan Sharma (Jaynagar), and Tarun Kumar Sinha and Rajeev Ranjan Sinha (Bhimnagar) — who allegedly colluded with Additional Commissioner Ranvijay Kumar to approve fake export orders. A Kolkata-based clearing agent, Ganga Singh, is also under investigation for acting as a conduit in the scam.
Investigators claim that over 4,100 suspicious e-way bills were used to support the fraudulent claims. These included vehicle details of two-wheelers, buses, and ambulances. However, a cross-check with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), responsible for border security, revealed that none of the vehicles actually crossed the border, confirming the fictitious nature of the shipments.
The accused officials reportedly turned a blind eye to the spike in exports, with Additional Commissioner Ranvijay Kumar allegedly issuing “oral instructions” to expedite the Let Export Orders. He is also suspected of personally passing on export details to be processed or doing so via Ganga Singh.
The CBI investigation also revealed that many of the exporting firms did not operate from their registered addresses, further indicating the scale of fabrication.
The probe is ongoing, with more arrests and financial trail tracking likely in the coming days.
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