Teams of Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out search operations at 25 locations on Friday in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, Botad, Gandhidham, Mumbai and Bengaluru in connection with the case against Mohammad Ejaj Bomar and others. The accused are booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 due to their alleged involvement in the GST fraud case.
Search at one of the residences fetched Rs 29 lakh cash along with incriminating documents such as form for changing mobile number from aadhaar cards, fake bills issued from bogus entities and digital evidences.
"In this search action, the premises of accused persons who were involved in preparing bogus documents on the basis of which fake GST firms were made and the entities which were used for providing bogus Input Tax Credit (ITC) were covered. ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by Bhavnagar Police for various offences against Bomar and others," mentioned a note by the agency.
The chargesheet by police investigators had mentioned that the accused had changed mobile number linked to aadhaar cards of several persons promising them financial assistance under government schemes. These cards were later used to obtain PAN and then GST registrations. With use of these documents, fake invoices of more than Rs 1,102 crore involving evasion of GST of Rs 122 crore was allegedly carried out. The accused had made 461 bogus firms for these transactions.
The fake entities were passed on input tax credit by generating fake invoices on commission basis. Payment of these fake invoices is made through banking channels and the amount was settled in cash between operator of fake entity and beneficiary.
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