The officers of CGST Bhiwandi commissionerate busted a fake invoice racket involving the issuance of invoices amounting to Rs 132 crore and availing and passing on input tax credit of Rs 23 crore.
The officials during the bust arrested the main accused identified as Hasmukh Patel on September 9 and he has been sent to judicial custody till September 23.
Anti-evasion wing of CGST Bhiwandi commissionerate was investigating various fake firms namely M/s UGSK Trader, M/s World Enterprises, M/s Rolex Enterprises and M/s HHT Enterprises and M/s Yesh Enterprises wherein various direct and indirect links were established between these firms and the accused.
Based on specific intelligence, the anti-evasion wing of CGST Bhiwandi commissionerate conducted a search operation at the residential premises of the accused who was wanted in eight of the ongoing investigation cases for his alleged role in GST fraud.
Sumit Kumar, Commissioner of CGST Bhiwandi commissionerate said, "A probe revealed that the accused Hasmukh Patel allegedly created a web of these fake firms and through which they generated fake invoices of Rs 132 crore and availed/passed on fake ITC of Rs 23.16 crore without supplying any goods and services. The accused during the interrogation confessed that he has floated 36 fake GST firms and established a network to pass-on fake Input Tax Credit which is spread across various GST commissionerate."
Kumar further added, "The mastermind Patel was arrested Friday, September 9, based on material evidence gathered during the investigation. He has been arrested under section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017 for contravention of section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017. Also, this operation is a part of efforts by CGST Mumbai Zone to eradicate fake ITC networks which have been vitiating the healthy economic ecosystem of the country and defrauding the government exchequer."
With the arrest of Patel, the CGST Bhiwandi commissionerate has made the 17th arrest in the last one year. The department plans to intensify the drive against fake ITC networks and other GST evaders in the coming months.
