In another crackdown against the tax evaders, a joint team of officials from Raipur and Bilaspur Division of Fake Invoice and Prosecution Cell of Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) and Central Excise on Friday arrested a trader engaged in large scale evasion of GST to the tune of Rs 10.14 crore. The swoop was carried out by CGST Raipur team based on intelligence shared by their New Delhi counterparts. The accused trader, however, was arrested from Rajnandgaon district, since he was on the run to evade his arrest. The errant trader had been operating his business through illegal means of evading GST liability from both Raipur and Bilaspur districts respectively.

 

“Based on intelligence that M/s. Jyoti Trading & Company, M/s Kliffo Trading Company, M/s S S Industries and M/s Sai Enterprises are engaged in large scale evasion of GST by way of availing and utilising fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) without receipt of any underlying goods or services, sleuths from CGST and Central Excise carried out preventive operation at the premises of the above firms,” official sources informed. According to the sources, the investigation revealed that Sanjay Shende, identified as proprietor of M/s Sai Enterprises, Jyoti Trading & Company and S S Industries and also controls M/s Kliffo Trading Company, was involved in availing fake ITC. “He had availed and utilized ITC amounting to Rs 10.14 Crores from 22 non-existent firms based at New Delhi by generating fake invoices without supplying any underlying goods and services.

 

Thereby, the accused trader had availed and utilised the fake ITC (without receipt of any underlying goods and services) for payment of their outward GST liability,” they maintained. In further course of action, trader Sanjay Shende was arrested on Friday under provisions of Section 69(1) of CGST Act 2017 and later produced before him before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court, which sent him to Raipur Central Jail under 14-days Judicial Remand Custody (JCR). It is pertinent here to recall that the CGST Raipur in the past has also taken strict Enforcement action taken against tax evaders specifically against taxpayers involved in business of bogus billing.