Gujarat’s State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) department has busted a tax evasion scam worth Rs 34 crore, allegedly by copper traders by submitting bogus bills worth Rs 186 crore, officials said.
Based on information received by the enforcement wing of the state GST department, and further investigations, searches were conducted against 14 firms, including Fortune Copper Industries and Infinity Exim, involved in copper trading in Surat, Rajkot, Bharuch, Vapi, Junagadh and Bhavnagar. The campaign was launched. , November 11th.
According to a statement on Wednesday, during the investigation, it was revealed that these firms evaded taxes on a large scale by showing fake purchases of copper.
The state GST had earlier on November 13 arrested Fortune Copper Industries partner Sandeep Anwar Virani for allegedly evading GST to the tune of Rs 19.46 crore. On Tuesday, SGST arrested Pragnesh Kantaria, partner of M/s Infinity Exim in Rajkot. Kantaria was found to have evaded tax by claiming fraudulent input tax credit on the basis of fake purchase of copper scrap. Kantaria was earlier booked by Central GST authorities in a separate case for tax evasion.
Obtaining tax credit wrongly is an offense under Section-132 (1) (c) of the GST Act, and after his alleged involvement in the case was found, Kantaria was summoned for further investigation.
The statement further said, ‘Preliminary evidence shows that M/s Infinity Exim has made fake financial transactions of more than Rs 186 crore through a bogus firm with the aim of evading tax of Rs 34 crore and causing loss to the government exchequer. Research has shown.