Police in Koregaon Park, Pune, have initiated legal action against eight individuals, including the alleged ringleader Asraf Ibrahim Kalawadiya, 50, from Surat. They are accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery related to the establishment of 246 fake companies across 13 states to evade Goods and Services Tax (GST), leading to estimated losses betweenRs5,000 crore andRs8,000 crore.
The fraudulent activities reportedly took place from September 2018 to March 2024. The GST department launched the investigation after discovering that Pathan Enterprises, a non-existent business located in Shiv Chaitanya Colony, Hadapsar, had evaded Rs20.25 crore in taxes.
Kalawadiya is currently in judicial custody at Yerawada Central Prison following his arrest on March 13, 2024, by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) Pune zonal unit. His seven accomplices are still at large.
Rishi Prakash, a senior intelligence officer with the DGGI, stated that the phone number and email used to register Pathan Enterprises were also connected to several other fraudulent companies, all of which failed to pay taxes amounting to Rs5,000 crore to Rs8,000 crore during the investigation period.
Senior Inspector Runal Mulla of Koregaon Park police confirmed that a preliminary inquiry based on the GST department’s complaint led to the filing of an FIR after verification. The case has now been handed over to the Economic Offences Wing for further investigation.
Prakash, who filed the complaint, noted that Pathan Enterprises was registered under the name of Pathan Shabbir Khan Anwar Khan. Investigators traced Khan, who claims to be an autorickshaw driver, to his residence in Khumbarwada, Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Khan stated he was unaware of any businesses operating under his name.
Additional inquiries uncovered a bank account in Rajkot, Gujarat, linked to Jeet Kukadiya, who described himself as a security guard and denied knowledge of the account’s activities. Kalawadiya emerged as the mastermind after examining bank statements and call records. He was located in a hotel in Mira Bhayander, Mumbai, where a search yielded multiple cell phones, laptops, SIM cards, chequebooks, debit cards, and rubber stamps.
Kalawadiya confessed to creating fake companies and bank accounts using forged documents for tax evasion. He falsely claimed to operate a scrap material business, while investigations revealed that fake invoices were issued to 246 entities, allowing them to claim input tax credits without paying GST. Notably, Kalawadiya had previously been arrested by the DGGI in Surat in 2022.