Businessman arrested for Rs 101 crores GST fraud in Ghaziabad

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Ghaziabad: A businessman was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district in connection with a GST fraud worth Rs 101 crores.

On the basis of specific intelligence, the officers of CGST Commissionerate had conducted a series of searches at 16 places in Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, and Delhi related to Vishal Steel Suppliers and his supplier firms on March 23.

“(The searches) led to unearthing of GST fraud involving taxable value of Rs 101.33 crores (approximately) and availment and utilization of fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 14.25 crores (approximately) involving more than 44 firms,” Alok Jha, Commissioner, Central GST, Ghaziabad, said in a statement.

The Commissioner said that the quantum of fraud and number of firms involved are likely to go up as further investigation is conducted.

The accused Vishal Khandelwal was initially not found during searches after which the officials issued summon to him. He appeared on Thursday (April 8) and recorded his statement in which he admitted GST liability of the firm in question.

Following this, he was arrested on Friday under the CGST Act, 2017 and was produced before the court of Special CJM, Meerut who ordered for judicial custody.