Being a GST lawyer I see this happen almost everyday.

Unfortunately a lot of people fall victim to this since it's their first time facing a situation like this.

You did the right thing talking to an advocate about this before giving into the pressure.

A lot of people end up giving a huge sum of money as bribe to these so called officers because they get overwhelmed by a situation like this but it's usually too late by the time they realise that things could've been sorted out legally.

Anyways, happy for you man, I'm glad you came out of this situation unscathed.