Rs 49 crore fake ITC claims, Company director was arrested

Nagpur: The Nagpur Zonal Unit of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has arrested yet another businessman in its series of crackdown against fake input tax credit (ITC) claims. Fake credit to the tune of Rs 49.19 crore is alleged to have been claimed in this case.

Across the country the DGGSTI sleuths had come across a firm taking up contract jobs only on paper. Transactions worth hundreds of crore were recorded in such manner, said a press release issued here. After a series of searches, the director of this firm was traced in Raipur and arrested. His bail plea has been rejected and the person has been remanded to judicial custody.

Specific intelligence was developed by the officers of DGGI, as part of the ongoing drive against fake invoices and nonexistent entities, Nagpur Zonal Unit on the basis of information received from trade sources that a taxpayer providing works contract services from different locations in India had obtained a GSTIN at Nagpur only on paper in the name of which transactions worth hundreds of crores were being carried out.

At different locations and the past/ present owners a series of searches were carried out of all the declared premises of this GSTIN were traced and contacted, which revealed that this GSTIN had no physical presence at Nagpur and apparently fake documents with forged signatures had been uploaded on behalf of this entity to obtain GST registration and in order to hide the non-existent nature of this entity. The Director of this non-existent GSTIN who was traced in Raipur, Chattisgarh, was confronted with the evidence unearthed and was arrested at Nagpur under Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017.

DGGI, Nagpur arrested the director of a pan India company in a case of fraudulent availment of Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 49.19 crore by a non-existent entity. The court has rejected his bail application vide order dated December 1, 2020 and he has been remanded to judicial custody till December 8, 2020, the press release said.