The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Ahmedabad Zonal Office has conducted extensive search operations at seven premises across Ahmedabad, Surat and Bhavnagar in a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Dhruvi Enterprises and associated entities.
The raids, conducted on Sunday (October 27), resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents that are expected to aid the ongoing probe into alleged large-scale financial misconduct.
Earlier, ED conducted searches at 23 locations in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Veraval, Rajkot, Surat and Kodinar in Gujarat.
The case was initially registered by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch of Gujarat Police following a complaint from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The complaint pointed to the establishment of over 200 shell entities by a group of organised criminals to facilitate fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims.
These entities, backed by fraudulent invoices, were reportedly used to claim and transfer ITC without the actual supply of goods or services, constituting significant financial fraud.
ED’s investigation, initiated based on the FIR filed by Gujarat Police, reveals that one of these shell companies, Dhruvi Enterprises, was established using falsified documents to secure GST registration. This entity allegedly generated invoices linked to 12 different companies, including DA Enterprises, which then availed fraudulent ITC from the GST Department.
During the probe, authorities uncovered that a senior Gujarat-based journalist was managing DA Enterprises. The police have recovered substantial unaccounted cash from the premises of this firm.
So far, the statements recorded in the investigation failed to verify the legitimacy of these transactions, which resulted in additional searches to uncover the full scope of the alleged conspiracy.
In this case, nearly 12 individuals have been arrested and they are under judicial custody.
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