CGST Superintendent, lawyer under CBI scanner in 'reverse trap' case

New Delhi, Sep 3 (PTI) The role of a GST Superintendent posted in Mumbai and the lawyer of a private company linked with an online betting website have come under the scanner of the CBI for an alleged payment of Rs 22 lakh bribe to another GST Intelligence officer posted in Kolkata, in which the agency arrested two persons, officials said on Wednesday.

On a complaint from the Kolktata-based GST intelligence officer Vivek Pratap Singh, the CBI had conducted a "reverse trap" recently in which it arrested Ram Sevak Singh and Sachin Kumar Gupta while they were allegedly delivering the bribe to him for dropping the ongoing proceedings against a private company.

Vivek Pratap Singh was tasked with collecting intelligence related to GST evasion. During the enquiry, he received inputs regarding the non-compliance of an offshore online betting website with GST, which had links to www.lordexch.com, www.lordsexch.com, and www.lotusbook247.com.

During the enquiry, he found a UPI ID bankg.artimbe@oxymoney, having a banking name Artimbe It Private Limited, which was common to all the above links.

The details from the National Payment Corporation of India led him to a bank account, No. 8859370474, linked to a Prepaid Payment Instruments issuer, Appnit Technologies Pvt. Ltd., with Nitin Kapoor as its Director.

Singh issued a notice to the company, seeking details of KYC, AoF, Bank Statement, etc., and also contacted Kapoor on his mobile phone, requesting him to provide the account opening form and bank statement of Appnit Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

He received a call from one Priyanka, claiming to be the lawyer for the company, seeking an appointment to meet him in person for the settlement of the case. Singh refused to meet and asked her to send the documents through the mail.

It was followed by a call from one Abhishek, claiming to be a Superintendent in the GST department in Mumbai, who allegedly offered that Singh drop the proceedings against the company in exchange for a bribe of Rs one crore. He allegedly repeated the offer on two more occasions through phone calls.

Singh promptly alerted the CBI and lodged an official complaint, which laid a reverse trap to target the bribe giver.

To verify the allegations, the CBI conducted a meticulously orchestrated counter-sting operation involving independent witnesses, in which Singh agreed to meet Abhishek at a five-star hotel in Kolkata, where the latter was staying, according to the agency.

The CBI wired Singh with a hidden voice recorder, on which all interactions were being chronicled. When Singh reached the hotel lobby, Abhishek allegedly took him to his room, where he cajoled him into accepting the bribe and instructed him to demand at least Rs 20 lakh from Priyanka to settle the case.

He even offered his help to settle the bribe amount for more than Rs 20 lakh.

While having lunch at the restaurant in the presence of Priyanka, Abhishek allegedly offered Singh Rs 22 lakh, to which she agreed by saying "done" with the delivery being finalised in Delhi.

The agency had deployed a team in Delhi, which raided the premises and arrested two accused, Ram Sevak Singh and Sachin Kumar Gupta, who had allegedly come to deliver Rs 22 lakh in bribe, they said.

In its FIR seen by the PTI, the CBI has booked Abhishek Katiyar, Superintendent, Audit Section, Office of Principal Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), Mumbai East, Mumbai, Priyanka Singh, Advocate and Lawyer, and two companies-- Artimbe It Pvt. Ltd and Appnit Technologies Pvt. Ltd. PTI ABS ABS RT RT RT