By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Nov 15
The officers of the Anti Evasion branch of Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) Commissionerate, Delhi (East) unearthed a fraud of claiming inadmissible input tax credit (ITC) worth nearly Rs 34 crore based on fake invoices and arrested a businessman involved in the fraud.
The businessman Rishabh Jain was arrested under Section 132(1)(b) of the CGST Act, 2017 on Saturday and was remanded to judicial custody by the Metropolitan Magistrate till November 26, 2021. The case involved the passing on ITC through bogus GST invoices without actual movement of goods.
Jain had created 7 firms to generate bogus GST invoices with an intent to pass on fraudulent ITC, without paying actual GST to the Government. These entities generated fake invoices worth Rs. 220 crore and passed inadmissible ITC amounting to Rs. 34 crore, an official statement said.
The modus operandi involved creating multiple firms with the intent to avail/utilize and pass on the inadmissible credit. The firms involved in the racket were: M/s Blue Ocean, M/s Highjack Marketing, M/s Kannha Enterprises, M/s S S Traders, M/s Evernest Enterprises, M/s Gyan Overseas and M/s Viharsh Exporters Pvt. Ltd.
When confronted by CGST officials, Jain admitted the crime. He also stated that due to non payment against Overdraft account of Central Bank of India, the business premises were sealed by bankers. Thereafter, he indulged into issuance of bogus GST invoices without actual movement of goods. As such he was arrested under Section 132(1)(b) of the CGST Act, 2017 which is cognizable and non-bailable offence.
