Surat: In one of the biggest cases unearthed by Surat unit of Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI), GST evasion of Rs 231 crore has been unearthed on Thursday by firms involved in metal and plastic scrap trade.
The racket involving 79 firms are spread across the country and searches were conducted in 10 states by DGGI. These firms produced bills amounting to Rs 1,516 crore for goods that were never supplied. DGGI recovered Rs 14.14 crore from the accused racketeers.
In the case registered under GST Act, a total six accused were arrested at different locations. DGGI officials, however, refused to divulge the names of the accused as investigation is still continuing.
The central investigative agency gathered intelligence of involvement of several end user firms supplying articles of iron and steel are engaged in availment and utilisation of illegal Input Tax Credit (ITC) on basis of invoice issued by non-existing firms. The agency further found that a multi-layered chain of firms registered across 10 states in the country is running the racket.
“In these transactions, 79 GSTI numbers were used and invoices of Rs 1,516 crore were generated. The ITC was availed by these firms without actually supplying any goods,” said an official.
DGGI conducted simultaneous searches at the 79 premises of these registered firms in 10 states. Of these, 46 places were searched by zonal units of DGGI in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Bhopal and Pune. The Surat zonal unit of DGGI carried out searches at 33 premises, 11 transporters and four weighbridge operators.
“The evidence gathered during searches established that the firms shown to have supplied goods and passed on ITC to end users were non-existent and registered on the basis of forged documents,” DGGI official stated.
Investigation also revealed that the transporters were fake and their forged papers were used with invoices of shell firms to establish goods were transported.
The racket involving 79 firms are spread across the country and searches were conducted in 10 states by DGGI. These firms produced bills amounting to Rs 1,516 crore for goods that were never supplied. DGGI recovered Rs 14.14 crore from the accused racketeers.
In the case registered under GST Act, a total six accused were arrested at different locations. DGGI officials, however, refused to divulge the names of the accused as investigation is still continuing.
The central investigative agency gathered intelligence of involvement of several end user firms supplying articles of iron and steel are engaged in availment and utilisation of illegal Input Tax Credit (ITC) on basis of invoice issued by non-existing firms. The agency further found that a multi-layered chain of firms registered across 10 states in the country is running the racket.
“In these transactions, 79 GSTI numbers were used and invoices of Rs 1,516 crore were generated. The ITC was availed by these firms without actually supplying any goods,” said an official.
DGGI conducted simultaneous searches at the 79 premises of these registered firms in 10 states. Of these, 46 places were searched by zonal units of DGGI in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Bhopal and Pune. The Surat zonal unit of DGGI carried out searches at 33 premises, 11 transporters and four weighbridge operators.
“The evidence gathered during searches established that the firms shown to have supplied goods and passed on ITC to end users were non-existent and registered on the basis of forged documents,” DGGI official stated.
Investigation also revealed that the transporters were fake and their forged papers were used with invoices of shell firms to establish goods were transported.
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