Parmesh S Jain special correspondent
Continuing investigations into scrap cartel and Tax evasion case,busted in January this year,sleuths of commercial tax on Thursday arrested fourth accused after a month long chase.A special team of officials were on the hot pursuit for the offenders,part of the cartel involved in fake transactions of scrap goods have arrested four people so far.
With this,the Department has successfully busted the fake ITC racket involving nearly 100 firms having turnover of Rs.1008 crores and tax amount of nearly 180 crores.
Earlier the team had arrested Mohammad Siddiq,the mastermind of the racket in January along with his associates,Imtiaz of Bantwal and Sameer Pasha.
The fourth accused identified as Soni Vishwas,was arrested after a month-long chase after he was absconding and was on the run.
According to the officials release the accused was constantly changing locations by criss crossing the States.
He managed to secure multiple mobile SIM cards with the help of his acquaintances.
Based on reliable information,he was tracked on real-time basis by several teams of officers of Kalburgi, Hubli,Bellary and Malnad Divisions who were in disguise and ultimately nabbed him after a marathon chase of about 24 hours.
Karnataka Police,Railway Officials and State GST authorities of Maharashtra,also assisted in tracking the accused,C.Shikha, commissioner of commercial taxes, said.
The accused, according to the officials created multiple registrations in the States of Kerala,Tamilnadu and Karnataka with forged and fabricated documents.
The accused supplied fake tax invoices at multi-level supply chain without actual supply of goods facilitating availing of Input Tax Credit (ITC) by the beneficiaries without remitting any output tax at the beginning of the supply chain.
In most cases PAN and Aadhaar cards of friends,other gullible and poor people were used to prepare rental agreements and obtain GST registrations.
These registrations were operated by the cartel members for a time spanning six to twelve months by which time several crores of transactions were reflected and ultimately closed without paying any taxes.
Using the Modus Operandi,the accused evaded tax and used a novel method of converting accounted money into cash through ‘Retail Payment and Settlement System’ of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Business Correspondence associated with Banks and Fintech Companies were the channels used for such conversions the value of which as on date has crossed Rs.140 crores.
Officers of the Commercial Taxes Department are continuing their investigation and analyzing it from all angles.
This resolute action by the Commercial Taxes Department sends a clear messageabout the government’s unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law,ensuring equitable taxation and safeguarding the interests of the State and its honest taxpayers both”, Ms. Shikha, said.
