The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Saturday arrested two individuals in Gujarat in connection with a massive bogus input tax credit (ITC) racket involving fraudulent claims totaling Rs30 crore.
The accused have been identified as Rohit Sanghani, a Jamnagar-based tax consultant and advocate, and Vishal Gondaliya, proprietor of R D Enterprise, Jamnagar. Both were produced in court and remanded to judicial custody.
According to Imran Malek, the lawyer representing DGGI, “It is unusual for DGGI to arrest a tax consultant and advocate for aiding fraudulent ITC claims. The accused facilitated other participants in the scam.”
The investigation, initiated by DGGI’s Surat Zonal Unit in November, uncovered several non-genuine taxpayers in Surat, including Maniyar Enterprises, Balaji Enterprises, Vaghela Industrial, Veer Exports, and Capital Tea, who were illegally availing and passing on ITC, triggering further scrutiny.
Further probe led officials to Jamnagar, where searches revealed that ITC worth Rs23 crore had been fraudulently claimed. At Gondaliya’s premises on Ranjitsagar Road, authorities seized digital devices including mobile phones and tablets.
Investigators also uncovered Sanghani’s role in facilitating the creation of fake entities, issuing bogus invoices and e-way bills, and earning commissions for arranging fraudulent ITC claims from his office at Sidhivinayak Business Centre.
The DGGI continues its investigation to identify additional accomplices and track the flow of the fraudulent tax credits.
