• Notification Date: 19-02-2022
• Notification No: N/A

GST Department Arrested Maharashtra Firm Director for Tax Fraud

According to the report of a news agency called ANI on Friday, the Maharashtra Goods and Service Tax (GST) Department has arrested a firm director on the charges of accepting fake invoices of Rs.162 crores. The director of Everant Feromat Pvt. Ltd for availing a fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs.29.17 crores.

Previously, the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) of Raigad arrested the proprietor of a Kalamboli-based firm, namely Ashok Metal Scrap. The proprietor was involved in a fake ITC racket that had availed and passed fake input tax credit of Rs.12 crores. The offender used fake invoices of about Rs.64 crores under this racket.

The Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Department of Raigad received some information about the fraudulent activity from the Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the CGST Mumbai zone. Following the lead, a team from the Anti-Evasion Wing of CGST Commissionerate of Raigad started conducting investigations regarding the matter. The investigation revealed that the company had been availing fake Input Tax Credits for a long time. The firm was obtaining the fake invoices under the name of over 20 fake companies which had no real existence. The ITCs were further passed on to other firms by the firm.

The accused firm had been evading the investigation proceedings and did not cooperate with the procedures. The company had remained absconding to avoid the consequences of the investigation from October 2021.

Finally, the GST officials have arrested the accused proprietor on Thursday under Section 69 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. The firm has also been accused of committing offences under Section 132 of the CGST Act. The director was brought to the Judicial Magistrate First Class in Panvel. The proprietor has been ordered to be held in judicial custody for 14 days.