The anti-evasion branch of central goods and service tax (CGST) and central excise, Nashik commissionerate, arrested an industrialist from Ambad for evading GST by availing excess input tax credit (ITC) of over Rs 25.2 crore.
Officials of anti-evasion branch said that the industrialist was arrested on March 4 and has been remanded in 14-day judicial custody till March 18. A senior officer said, “We have been keeping a watch on unscrupulous elements who indulge in availing fraudulent ITC, which results in evasion of GST. During the course of investigation of this case, it was found that there were six firms or entities that were allegedly availing excessive and fraudulent ITC without any legitimate invoices or bills and without the actual receipt of goods and services.”
He added that the accused person was closely related to all these six firms or entities and was operating and controlling them either in his name or in the name of his relatives. The accused fraudulently availed excess credit for payment of tax. During the course of the investigation, the concerned industrialist could not explain or furnish any document for claiming the ITC of Rs 25.26 crore, he said.
This fraudulent credit was then used to settle the GST liabilities of these companies instead of making cash payments. He was arrested for masterminding the fraudulent operation with the aim of misappropriating the ITC, thus evading taxes and defrauding the govt. This is the third arrest over the past six months in which the accused fraudulently availed ITC worth over Rs 57 crore, informed officials.
Source #TOI
