Raid on eight more firms in Surat by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department led to the discovery of ₹493 suspicious transactions by the ‘Fortune Copper’ Industry in Surat.
One Sandeep Virani was arrested by the police in connection with a GST tax evasion scam, and the GST department had obtained his remand for 3 days.
After the 3-day remand period ended, the Surat GST team sought an additional 11-day remand for custodial interrogation, which the court approved, granting 3 more days of remand for Virani
Why was Virani arrested?
The state GST team had raided various cities in Gujarat involved in the copper business, with 14 firms in Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, and Vapi being targeted.
In Surat, Virani, a partner in Fortune Copper Industries, was arrested for issuing bogus bills. The GST department had obtained the remand of the accused after the initial three days.
Virani allegedly created bogus purchase bills worth ₹108 crore in the name of five bogus firms for Fortune Copper Industries, leading to ₹19.45 crore in fraudulent input tax credit utilisation. As a result, the government treasury was looted.
Recent Developments
On Saturday, when the remand for further custodial interrogation was requested, the Surat GST department asked the court for an 11-day remand. The prosecution mentioned that eight new firms had been discovered, involving suspicious transactions amounting to ₹493 crore.
The prosecution also stated that Virani had created bogus bills for the five bogus firms, resulting in the fraudulent credit of ₹19.45 crore. The court was informed that further investigation was needed to determine who conducted transactions with these bogus firms, who prepared the e-way bills, who handled the financial transactions in the bank, and who instructed the transfer of money to the bank accounts.
For which, the prosecution requested an 11-day custody extension. However, the court granted only 3 more days of remand for Virani.
Source from: https://english.gujaratsamachar.com/news/gujarat/surat-gst-raids-uncover-493-crore-accuseds-remand-extended
