The CGST Commissionerate, Raigad of CGST Mumbai Zone has busted a racket of fake GST Input Tax Credit (ITC) involving fake invoices amounting to Rs. 70 Crore involving ITC of Rs. 13 Crore and has arrested the proprietor of a Kalamboli based firm, M/s. Zaid Enterprises.
Based on tip off from Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) of CGST Mumbai zone, a team from Anti-Evasion Wing of CGST Commissionerate Raigad initiated an investigation, which revealed that M/s Zaid Enterprises had availed fake ITC on the basis of bogus invoices issued by more than 10 non-existing firms and passed this fake ITC to other firms. The proprietor of the firm had not been operating from the principal place of business declared in the GST portal but instead was operating on the move. He was traced and after a 15 km chase, apprehended from near a petrol station in Navi Mumbai.
The accused has been arrested on 04.03.2022 under Section 69 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 for committal of offences under Section 132 of the said Act and was produced before the Judicial Magistrate, Panvel, wherein he has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Besides the above, based on the past trend analysis and data analytics tools, officers had been keeping a watch on the number of such fake entities which had been mushrooming & operating from a small locality in Taloja, Navi Mumbai. They had been taking GST registrations based on forged/stolen identities or for the sole purpose of generating, availing, utilizing and passing on of fake ITC. These cases are a part of special Anti-Evasion drive launched by CGST, Mumbai Zone against the fraudsters and tax evaders who are creating unhealthy competition for compliant taxpayers and defrauding the Government exchequer.
CGST Raigad Commissionerate has detected tax evasion of nearly Rs. 700 Crore and recovered Rs. 405 Crore and arrested 9 persons, in the financial year 2021-22. The CGST department is doing extensive data mining using data analytics and network analysis tools to identify tax evaders and department is going to intensify its drive against the fraudsters and tax evaders in the coming days and months.
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