CGST dept busts bizman in 357cr fraud case

Meerut, Dec 24, 2023

The anti-evasion branch of the Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) in Meerut apprehended a 38-year-old businessman, Manoj Kumar Mishra, for allegedly evading GST worth Rs 357 crore through 91 shell firms spread across India. Mishra, a resident of East Delhi, was taken into custody on Friday, a senior official said on Saturday.

A GST official, privy to the case, told TOI, “We observed a recurring phone number linked to multiple GST-registered firms. Upon investigation, 91 such firms came to the fore. Delving deeper, officials uncovered a firm with counterfeit bills but no actual goods supplied.”

“Many of these companies existed only on paper, with no physical presence at their stated locations. Mishra, the alleged mastermind, was detained in Noida for questioning and subsequently arrested for tax evasion in Meerut,” the official said. Mishra orchestrated the evasion by establishing shell companies and fabricating fake e-way bills. Following a complaint filed at the CGST office in Meerut, he has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days, the official said.

Incidentally, a day before, a close aide of slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, Qamar Ahmed Kazmi (60), was arrested for evasion of tax of over Rs 100 crore.

[The Times of India]