Investigation wing of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax (State GST) department have arrested mastermind and one more person in connection with last month’s bogus billing and illegal input tax credit (ITC) scam that has its roots in Bhavnagar. With these two, the total number of persons arrested in the case stands at nine.
As per the department, Mohammedabbas Rafiqali Meghani alias MM who is allegedly the mastermind in the racket has been arrested. “We have found evidence that he was operating 25 firms and had taken illegal ITC worth Rs135 crore based on bogus bills worth Rs739 crore. We have arrested him,” the official statement from the state GST said.
During the investigation Kalliwala Family of Bhavnagar also surfaced. “The family’s firm H K Metals had claimed illegal ITC worth Rs16 crore based on bogus bills worth Rs87 crore. The firm is registered in the name of Shabana Kalliwala and the authorised person is Hasan Aslam Kalliwala,” the statement added. Shabana is also arrested by the department.
Shabana Kalliwala 
Mohammed Abbas Rafiq Ali
“The modus operandi in the entire scam is that these individuals lure people from the lower-income group, offer them some money in lieu of their documents (like PAN Card, Aadhar, Electricity Bills) for registering firms with GST. There is no official movement of goods or services but bills are generated and based on such bills, illegal ITC is claimed,” official sources said.
As per the case details, the department had unearthed a multi-crore racket of fake firms, bogus billing and illegal ITC scam on July 7. In a statewide search at 71 locations, the department had unearthed total bogus billing or fake transactions unearthed in these three cases are worth Rs1,741 crore and illegal ITC is worth Rs319 crore. During the operation, Afzal Savjani and Meenaben Rathod were arrested.
Official sources added, that at Savjani’s residence we had found documents that lead us to Mohammed Abbas. Both persons were produced before the chief metropolitan judge, who has ordered them for remand of five days.
