Kolkata, Sep 30 : The Ranchi wing of Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Tuesday that their officials have attached 10 immovable properties worth Rs 15.41 crore in Kolkata and Howrah in West Bengal in connection with a large-scale goods and services tax (GST) input tax credit (ITC) fraud syndicate.

According to a press statement issued by ED, the properties attached by its officials in West Bengal belong to Amit Gupta, one of the principal masterminds of the syndicate and its aides.

The attachments were made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The total attachment in this case so far stands at nearly Rs 20.70 crore, the ED said.

The ED officials started the investigation into the matter following a complaint filed by the Jamshedpur unit of the Director General of GST Intelligence in Jharkhand.

Upon investigation, the investigating officials of ED found that the forgery was conducted through floating of multiple shell companies not only in Jharkhand but in the two other eastern Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha.

The ED probe said that the forgery process, bogus GST invoices with ITC worth around Rs 794 crore were issued in cases where, in reality, no supply of goods were made.

While this was the first step of the forgery, the second step was in the selling of that forged ITC against hefty commissions to certain entities who were the end-users in this chain.

According to ED's findings, the fraudsters earned a total commission of around Rs 67 crore through this forgery.

The Director General of GST Intelligence initiated the initial investigation, which prompted the principal mastermind Amit Gupta, to convert the commissions earned into assets purchased in the names of his close relatives and associates, many of which were attached by the investigating officials of the ED on Monday.

Besides, Gupta, ED officials also arrested three others, namely Sumit Gupta, Amit Agarwal, and S.K. Deora.

All of them are in judicial custody now.

The investigation has established that the syndicate earned a commission of nearly Rs 67 crore from this criminal activity, which constitutes the proceeds of crime.

Amit Gupta, acting as the primary financial manager, played a crucial role in laundering this illicit income by acquiring numerous immovable properties.

The investigation also revealed a deliberate attempt by Amit Gupta to conceal these assets by transferring them to relatives and associates after the Director General of GST Intelligence initiated its investigation.

The ED has already filed a prosecution complaint against the accused before the Special PMLA Court in Ranchi, which has taken cognisance of the offence.

Additionally, a previous provisional attachment order was issued on July 3, 2025, attaching properties worth Rs 5.29 crore belonging to the syndicate head, S.K. Deora.

The present attachment of properties worth Rs 15.41 crore is in continuation of the ongoing efforts to trace and attach the proceeds of crime.

Further investigation is underway.

/IANS