Coimbatore: The Coimbatore zonal unit of directorate general of GST intelligence on Tuesday arrested the proprietor of a private cardamom company for his involvement in fake invoice trading without actual supply of goods in Theni district.
Based on a tip, the officials searched the residence and business premises of the accused - M Ravikumar - on Monday and seized incriminating documents like sales and purchase copies of the fake companies, cheque books, passbooks and debit cards that were obtained in the name of fake firms.
Ravikumar had made 10 GST registrations in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to generate and pass on fraudulent input tax credit. All these firms dealt with cardamom trade in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, said a statement from the unit.
While some of the firms were registered under his own PAN number, others were registered in the name of his friends and relatives and it was used to generate and receive invoices to offset the outward GST liability, the statement added.
The firms have received invoices without supply of goods with a taxable value of about Rs 840 crore, thereby passing on fraudulent ITC of around Rs 44.85 crore to various entities, the statement added.
Subsequently, the accused was arrested and produced before the judicial magistrate who in turn remanded him in judicial custody.