GST Evasion: ED raids 25 locations of Gujarat company; Allegations of GST theft of 122 crores
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Forms for change of mobile number from Aadhaar card, fake bills issued from fake entities and digital evidence and Rs 29 lakh in cash and several incriminating documents were seized during the raid.
The Enforcement Directorate has taken action against a Gujarat-based company in a money laundering case linked to GST evasion. ED has seized cash worth Rs 29 lakh by raiding several cities in this case. The investigating agency gave information about this on Monday. The agency said that the Gujarat-based company is accused of alleged GST evasion of Rs 122 crore.
The raid was done on June 2
The probe agency said it had raided 25 locations in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Botad, Gandhidham and Mumbai and Bengaluru on June 2 in a case against Mohd Ejaz Bomar and others. Forms for change of mobile number from Aadhaar card, fake bills issued from fake entities and digital evidence and Rs 29 lakh in cash and several incriminating documents were seized during the raid.
The raids focused on entities on the basis of which fake GST (Goods and Services Tax) firms were created. Not only this, these entities were used to give bogus Input Tax Credit (ITC).
The Bhavnagar police of Gujarat had earlier registered an FIR in this matter. Later the matter was taken over by the ED. He re-registered the case under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Fake invoices issued worth Rs 1102 crore
According to the charge sheet filed by the police in this case, the accused changed the mobile numbers linked to Aadhaar cards of several persons who were promised financial assistance under government schemes. Later these Aadhaar details were used to obtain PAN and then GST registration. The ED has also quoted the charge sheet as stating that fake invoices worth over Rs 1,102 crore were issued using 461 fictitious firms and GST evasion of Rs 122 crore.
Used to do fraud like this
The ED has also pointed out that the accused were creating shell entities through forged documents to obtain GST registration. Later, ITC was passed on to the beneficiaries by these shell entities by generating bogus invoices on commission basis. These bogus invoices were paid through banking channels. In this way, later the amount was taken in cash between the operator of the bogus institution and the beneficiary.
ED raids realty groups IREO and M3M
In another case, the ED raided realty groups IREO and M3M. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has given information about this on Monday. The probe agency said it seized luxury cars including Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley worth Rs 60 crore and jewelery worth Rs 5.75 crore during raids at real estate firms IREO and M3M in Mumbai.
The federal agency also said in the statement that searches were conducted at seven of his locations in Delhi and Gurugram on June 1. The ED has also alleged that the owner, controller and promoter of M3M Group, Basant Bansal, Roop Kumar Bansal, Pankaj Bansal and other key persons, deliberately evaded investigation during the raids.
The agency has been probing the IREO group for the past few years for allegedly diverting, siphoning off and embezzling investors' and clients' funds. During the investigation of this matter, it was found that M3M group is also involved in such activities. Large amounts of money amounting to hundreds of crores were embezzled through this group.
$5.76 million bribe given to officials in Embraer arms deal
The CBI has filed a charge sheet against arms dealer Arvind Khanna, advocate Gautam Khaitan and businessman Anoop Gupta in the Embraer corruption case. According to the CBI, a bribe of US$ 5.76 million was paid to the officials for finalizing the three-aircraft deal with DRDO in favor of Brazil.
In a recent chargesheet filed in a special CBI court, the agency charged Khanna, Khaitan and Gupta under IPC section 120-B (criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act). The CBI dropped proceedings against Vipin Khanna, an NRI businessman named in the FIR, after his death. The deal for three aircraft to be used to install air-borne radar systems of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) was signed with Brazilian firm Embraer in 2008.
According to the CBI, a kickback of USD 5.76 million was allegedly paid to Vipin Khanna from Embraer's subsidiaries through Singapore-based Interdev to influence officials in the DRDO. The CBI in the FIR had also booked Embraer and Interdev Pte Ltd in connection with the alleged corruption in the July 3, 2008 deal. The CBI had started the probe in September 2016 following allegations in a Brazilian newspaper that Embraer used middlemen to conduct deals in Saudi Arabia and India.
