Fake input tax credit fraud of Rs 48 crore uncovered in Mumbai

The anti-evasion team of Thane Central Excise & CGST Commissionerate Mumbai Zone on Thursday busted a fake Input Tax Credit racket involving GST of Rs 48 crore, officials said on Thursday.
The anti-tax fraud team arrested one Hitesh Shantilal Vasa, the mastermind of the racket.
Officials said that the accused Vasa created and registered 22 shell companies by misusing KYC documents such as Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and other documents of his relatives and other persons.
He received and retained benefits earned through these shell companies by effecting both proxy and dummy transactions in the names of such non-bonafide firms and availed an inadmissible Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 48 crore.
Vasa further passed on the fraudulent Input Tax Credit of Rs 44 crore without actual movement of the goods or services. He was also involved in circular trading to inflate the turnover of these fake firms.
The accused also misused the KYC documents for the purpose of obtaining GST registrations in document holders’ names as proprietors, partners and directors, as the case may be, and for opening bank accounts in the name of the fake companies or persons.
Vasa was arrested under Section 69 of the CGST Act 2017 for contravention of Section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017. He was sent to 14-day judicial custody after he was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Thane.