Textile firm owner held in Rs 3.5cr bogus billing racket

Surat: The intelligence unit of the State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) department has busted a fake GST invoice racket to the tune of Rs 3.57 crore and arrested a man who fraudulently claimed refund Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) without the actual supply of goods.
Anil Natha Hirpara, who owns three textile firms, was arrested under section 69 of the GST Act for fraudulently claiming ITC worth Rs 3.57 crore without the actual supply of goods.
The department officials had carried out searches at the offices of the three textile firms located in Sarthana and Varachha areas of the city few days ago. Incriminating documents and bogus invoices were recovered from the premises.
According to the SGST department, the accused owns three firms namely—Khushi Impex, Sai Fashion and Bhojal creations—located in the city. The firms were involved in getting fake bills without the actual supply of goods from the shell firms located in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The firms opened by Hirpara procured bogus invoices worth Rs 15 crore from the shell firms without the actual supply of goods. The owner indulged in the overvaluation of the goods for claiming the refund of IGST under the ITC worth Rs 3.57 crore.
Sources said that the accused was presented in the Chief Judicial Magistrate court in the city on Saturday where he was remanded in the judicial custody till February 28.