29 year old arrested by CGST Raigard for passing Fake ITC of Rs 33 Crore

The CGST Commissionerate, Raigad, has arrested a 29-year-old man as part of a special Anti-Evasion drive launched by the CGST, Mumbai Zone against fraudsters and tax evaders. The sham firms were used to generate, avail, and utilize a fraudulent GST Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs. 33 crore by issuing bogus invoices totaling more than Rs. 180 crore.

During the investigation, he admitted to his role in the creation of sham companies, as well as the creation, availability, and use of phoney ITC, as well as the filing of GST Returns for these fictitious businesses. He was detained on 04.03.2022 under Section 69 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 for committing offences under Section 132 of the said Act and was taken before the Judicial Magistrate, Panvel, where he was sentenced to 14 days in judicial custody.

The CGST Commissionerate, Raigad, has made three arrests in the recent two weeks. M/s Ashok Metal Scrap and M/s Zaid Enterprises, both based in Kalamboli, had previously been detained. These two companies dealt in metal waste and were involved in a Rs. 25 crore Input Tax Credit scam involving fake invoices for Rs. 135 crore.

To identify tax evaders, the CGST department is doing significant data mining and using data analytics and network analysis techniques. Additionally, authorities from the Raigad Commissionerate are keeping a watchful eye on any potential phoney entities that are springing up in Taloja, Navi Mumbai.

Department is going to intensify its drive against the fraudsters and tax-evaders in the coming days and months.