The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has arrested Kapil Chugh in connection with an alleged GST refund fraud worth ₹1,825 crore, according to the Ministry of Finance on Monday.
Chugh allegedly masterminded the GST scam and was wanted for many other financial crimes. Officials from the Ahmedabad zonal unit of the DGGI arrested him at Delhi's IGI Airport, where he was intercepted upon his return from Dubai.
"Chugh had evaded investigation and did not respond to multiple summons (22 in all) issued by DGGI, AZU, Ahmedabad and never joined investigations. He had fled to Dubai after committing GST refund fraud amounting to approximately Rs 1,825 crore across multiple jurisdictions," the ministry said.
The investigation found that Chugh and his associate Vipin Sharma, allegedly ran an illegal operation involving fraudulent availment of Input Tax Credit (ITC) and the subsequent encashment via refund claism on account of zero-rated supplies
"Kapil Chugh emerges as the key mastermind and habitual economic offender who controlled the entire network through dummy firms, employees and close associates," the ministry said.
The entities were created using borrowed KYC documents and were found to be non-functional or lacking infrastructure, manpower and genuine business activity at the declared premises.
The dummy proprietors/directors were merely name lenders and were compensated with fixed monthly cash payments. All operational activities, including GST registration, invoice generation, banking operations, filing of returns and submission of refund claims were handled centrally by the masterminds, the ministry added.
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The ministry said that the masterminds generated fraudulent ITC by arranging fake purchase invoices without actual receipt of goods. High-value tobacco products were shown in invoices to create substantial ITC.
These invoices were circulated through multiple intermediary firms, forming a layered chain of transactions. The ITC so generated was passed from one entity to another through paper transactions, thereby creating an artificial trail of trading activity.
"This layering enabled the masterminds to introduce ineligible ITC into the GST chain and subsequently accumulate the same in selected entities which were projected as exporters, particularly from Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ)," the ministry added.
Separately, Chugh also misrepresented and inflated the turnover of his export business to siphon off approximately Rs 11 crore from Yes Bank. He has also been charge-sheeted by CBI in another case involving fraudulent availing of credit facilities through forged documents, the ministry said.
Further, SEBI, in its March 30 order, has taken action against Vipin Sharma, MD of M/s Elitecon, for inflating the company valuation through fake turnover generated by bogus billing linked to GST fraud, it added.
(With PTI Inputs)
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