States »WesPosted at: Jul 5 2021 6:56PM Mah : Nagpur DGGI busts massive racket of fake refund of input tax credit of Rs 213.87 cr
Nagpur, Jul 5 (UNI) The Officials of DGGI, Nagpur Zonal Unit have busted a massive racket of fraudulent refunds of input tax credit of Rs 213.87 crores by three non-existent firms , a statement issued by DIGGI office said here on Monday.
According to the statement, searches were conducted at various places in Nagpur on the basis of specific information regarding the operation of a fake invoices racket at Nagpur.
The scam was being run by some non-existent entities acting as exporters which were making dubious “exports’’ of Tobacco products from the ICD, Mihan, Nagpur and on the basis of which were obtaining fraudulent refunds of accumulated ITC amounting to hundreds of Crores from CGST Division, Hingna, Nagpur-I.
During the searches at the declared PPOBs of these entities, all the three entities were found to be non-existent and they existed only on paper and had no physical existence. In a short span of three months after obtaining registration, these three non-existent entities had filed Shipping Bills and shown export of a common product i.e Smoking Mixtures for Pipes and Cigarettes (24031910) attracting inter-alia GST @ 28 % and Compensation Cess @290 % on which they had filed refunds of accumulated ITC amounting to Rs 213.87 crores, the statement said.
During the extensive investigations, it has been found that there is a mastermind behind the creation of these three non -existent entities which have been floated to first carry out dubious exports and then to claim fraudulent refunds. Some leads regarding the identity and location of the mastermind behind the racket have been obtained and are being explored.
Out of the above refunds,Rs 123.97 crores had already been sanctioned to CGST Division, Hingna, Nagpur I by the first week of June,2021. However, timely intervention by DGGI, Nagpur Zonal unit has resulted in damage control by stopping the balance refunds of Rs 89.90 crores filed by these entities just prior to their sanctioning.
An important fact which has emerged during the investigations is that this racket may not be confined to just these three non-existent entities. It appears that some more similar entities have been floated, all in a particular jurisdiction, to first carry out dubious exports and then to claim fraudulent refunds,the statement added.
UNI PK SY 1856