Gujarat: Four more held in Rs 900 crore fake billing scam

AHMEDABAD: Four more persons who were accused of involvement in the Rs 900 crore fake billing scam were arrested by the state goods and services tax (SGST) department on Wednesday. The accused include Jahid Kabariya, Natwargiri Goswami, Vikrambhai Baraiyya and Aizaz Shaikh who were involved in tax evasion to the tune of Rs 10.35 crore.
All the four accused were arrested based on system-based investigation using various analytical reports available through GSTN. All four accused were produced before the additional metropolitan magistrate’s court on Wednesday itself.
The arrests were made after nine more companies were raided by SGST officials in connection with a fake billing scam worth Rs 900 crore. The scam was unearthed after Bhavnagar-based Madhav Copper Limited was found to have evaded taxes worth Rs 137 crore using fake bills of Rs 425 crore. Two more persons had also been arrested by the SGST department officials — Afzal Sadiq Ali Sajwani from Bhavnagar and Meena Rathod from Prantij — who were involved in generating fake bills.
Sadiq was remanded till 3pm on Wednesday and now has been sent to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad. The SGST department officials are examining the e-documents which were collected from Sajwani’s residence and records of transactions worth crores are pending. Meanwhile, Nilesh Patel, the chairman of Madhav Copper Limited continues to remain absconding despite being summoned for the said tax evasion.