GST Officials Arrest Couple from Surat for 450 Crores of Tax Evasion

An official with the Maharashtra GST department stated on Friday that a couple from Surat, Gujarat, had been arrested for tax evasion and an ITC scam of over 450 crore.

The pair set up multiple fraudulent companies in the names of unconnected people, accepted bogus invoices for Rs. 482 crore, and claimed fake ITC worth Rs. 111 crore, according to the official.

The GST department, in collaboration with the Mumbai police, detained Prima Mhatre and Sanjeev Singh, the owners of M/s Dolphin Overseas and M/s Prime Overseas, respectively, on Thursday, he added.

The couple had been eluding state GST inspectors and their summonses for the past six months, according to the officer.

The pair was detained from their opulent flat with the cooperation of Mumbai police and their Surat counterparts in a well-planned operation that lasted over two days, according to reports.

In August 2021, the state GST department’s investigation wing began looking into the two businesses. The pair, however, allegedly fled the proceedings due to medical reasons, according to the official.

He said the GST Department resumed its search activities in numerous locations and discovered a total tax evasion of almost 111 crore.

According to the official, the suspects were transported to Mumbai on Friday and shown before a magistrate, who placed them in judicial prison for 14 days.