The Goods and Services Tax (GST) department recently raided eight more firms in Surat, uncovering a massive Rs493 crore of suspicious transactions connected to Fortune Copper Industries. The investigation has led to the arrest of Sandeep Virani, a partner in the company, who is now facing serious charges of tax evasion.
Virani was initially arrested and placed under a three-day remand, following which the Surat GST team sought an additional 11-day custodial interrogation for further investigation. The court granted an extension, allowing the police to hold Virani for three more days.
The GST raids targeted 14 firms across Gujarat, including locations in Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, and Vapi, all involved in the copper business. Investigators revealed that Virani was directly involved in issuing bogus purchase bills amounting to Rs108 crore, using five fake firms to generate fraudulent transactions. This led to the illegal utilization of Rs19.45 crore in input tax credits (ITC), resulting in a significant loss to the government exchequer.
The raid was part of a broader crackdown on tax fraud in Gujarat’s copper industry. Virani’s actions have been described as part of a larger GST scam, where bogus bills were used to create false tax credits, furthering tax evasion and defrauding the government. The GST department has vowed to continue their investigation into the remaining suspects linked to the scam.
