Maharashtra GST Department busts fake ITC racket of more than Rs 200 Cr

Maharashtra Goods & Service Tax Department has arrested Mr. Brijesh Vanitlal Shah, age- 48, operator of M/s. Om Impex and two other firms, on 04.08.2022 under the special investigation operation carried out against tax evading firms.

A visit for investigation was made to M/s. Om Impex’s place of business. It was discovered during an initial investigation that M/s. Om Impex and two other companies, M/s Brijeshwari Enterprises and M/s Chetna Metals LLP, had obtained Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs. 41.67 cr. from alleged non-genuine tax payers using false bills totaling Rs. 231.49 cr.

Mr. Brijesh Vanitlal Shah has been sent to judicial detention for 14 days by the Metropolitan Magistrate Court. The operation was managed by Mr. Santoshkumar Rajput, Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, along with Mr. Amol Suryawanshi and Mrs. Leena Kale, and was carried out under the supervision of Mr. Rahul Dwivedi (IAS), Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Investigation-A, Mumbai, and Mr. Nilkanth Ghogare, Deputy Commissioner of State Tax.

With this arrest, the State GST agency has now made 30 arrests so far this financial year. Given the extensive analytical tools and the interdepartmental coordination that GST has been using, this number will continue to rise, sending a clear message to fraudsters and bolstering its campaign against them.