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How bribe offer led CBI to lay ‘reverse trap’ that netted 2 betting firms & a senior GST officer

CBI's trap in Kolkata records offers of bribes. Agency arrests representatives of betting firms, books a Mumbai GST superintendent acting on behalf of companies.

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New Delhi: After an intelligence officer investigating tax evasion filed a formal complaint about being offered a Rs 22 lakh bribe, the CBI laid a trap and arrested representatives of two offshore online betting firms who allegedly delivered the bribe.

The agency registered an FIR and booked another Superintendent in the audit section posted in the office of the Principal Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) in Mumbai, along with the two companies and another individual identified as the lawyer of one of the firms under enquiry.

On 2 September, “The CBI laid a reverse trap, a meticulously planned operation designed to catch the perpetrators in the act. The operation culminated in the successful apprehension of two private individuals (Ram Sevak Singh and Sachin Kumar Gupta) as they were offering and paying bribes to the complainant officer.

Following the arrests, the CBI has initiated extensive searches at various locations connected to the accused. These searches are expected to unearth further evidence related to both the bribery attempt and the underlying tax evasion scheme,” the agency said in a statement 2 September.


Also read: Dabba trading, online betting case: Luxury cars, Rs 3 crore cash, jewels tumble out in ED’s Mumbai raids


‘Settlements offered’

According to the FIR, Vivek Pratap Singh, a Superintendent in GST Intelligence in the Durgapur Regional Unit was investigating two firms—Artimbe Pvt. Ltd and Appnit Technologies Private Limited and the websites they are linked to—for GST evasion.

When Singh asked for the KYC, bank account statements from the companies, he got a call from a ‘Priyanka’ claiming to be a lawyer for Appnit Technologies, and she said she wanted to meet him for “settlement in the case”.

The GST officer refused to meet her and instead asked her to email the required documents. The next day Singh received a call from Abhishek Katiyar, posted as a GST officer in Mumbai who asked about the ongoing probe against both companies.

Katiyar then allegedly told Singh that he was offering “Rs 1 crore or any other amount for settlement of the enquiry against the two firms”. As per the FIR, the GST officer again called on 22 and 26 August reiterating the offer on behalf of the two firms.

After Singh lodged his complaint, a DVR (Digital Video recorder) was arranged to record conversations between him and Katiyar. On 28 August, Katiyar, as per the CBI, asked Singh to meet him at Hotel Taj, New Town, Kolkata, regarding a pending case inquiry. The conversations arranging the meeting were recorded by CBI in the presence of independent witnesses.

Singh entered the hotel along with independent witnesses who trailed him at a safe distance. Katiyar allegedly took Singh to his room where he pushed for a “settlement” in the probe against Artimbe Pvt. Ltd. by taking a bribe. Katiyar allegedly also told Singh he would help negotiate an amount over Rs 20 lakh with Appnit Technologies’ advocate Priyanka.

Later, the complainant met Priyanka in the hotel’s sixth-floor restaurant, accompanied by Katiyar. During lunch, Katiyar allegedly offered Rs 22 lakh as bribe, to which Priyanka confirmed with a “done”. The deal was finalised, and they said they would make the payment in Delhi.

After this, once Singh left the hotel, the memory card was taken out of the DVR which had recorded all the conversations, and on the basis of that, the FIR was filed on 1 September.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)


Also read: 200-plus ‘bogus’ firms, forged papers & fake bills. What’s GST ‘scam’ in which journalist was held


 

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