Another Scam! Mumbai Man Arrested In Rs 132 Crore GST Fraud Done By Creating 36 Fake Companies

Mumbai zone¡¯s Bhiwandi Commissionerate of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) has busted a fake invoice racket worth Rs 132 crore and availing/passing on Input Tax credit (ITC) of more than Rs 23 crore.

The main accused of the syndicate has been identified as Hasmukh Patel and was arrested on September 9th 2022. He is at present in judicial custody till September 23, as per ANI.

According to the reports of CGST, the anti-evasion wing of CGST Bhiwandi Commsissionerate was investigating various fake firms namely M/s Mectech Steel Trading Private Limited 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 Hasmukh Patel.

Based on specific intelligence, an 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.

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"A probe revealed that the accused Hasmukh Patel allegedly created a web of these fake firms, 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," CGST reports stated.

"The accused 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," the report also mentioned, as per ANI.

Based on material evidence gathered during the investigation, the aforesaid accused mastermind was arrested on September 9, 2022 under section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017 for contravention of section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017.

Rs 1,000 Crore EPFO Fraud In Mumbai

Last month itself, probe began in a Rs 1,000 crore fraud by some EPFO employees at a Mumbai suburban office. The fraud was allegedly committed in Mumbai¡¯s Kandivali office, using employments of then pilots and crew members of Jet Airways, including many expats. PF accounts of many pilots or crew members of Jet Airways were allegedly misused to siphon off funds, which benefited some EPFO officials working at Kandivali office.

Also, EPFO¡¯s Kandivali office was mired in another fraud case in February when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against eight EPFO employees who reportedly siphoned off Rs 21.5 crore via 817 migrant workers¡¯ bank accounts.

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