Cement firm's premises at Maihar, Satna and dealers and distributors were raided
Week-long searches by the central GST intelligence team or DGGI on the premises of a top cement manufacturer and related dealers in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have led to detection of Rs 17.2 crore of goods and services tax (GST) evasion. While one of the directors of the cement major has been arrested, another director is on the run.
According to sources at the DGGI - the enforcement arm of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs or CBIC - the multiple searches were conducted from August 5 to 11 at premises belonging to the cement manufacturer located at Maihar, Satna and their registered dealers and distributors. One of the directors produced a medical opinion regarding COVID-19 symptoms, signed by the chief medical health officer, but he later made a run.
Searches have indicated that substantial quantities of cement and clinker were supplied secretly without paying GST in Madhya Pradesh and UP. It was also found that more than four lakh tonnes of limestone were bought in excess of what has been declared in the records of the company from January to July this year.
The DGGI team recovered cash transaction from the private records of company officials revealing unaccounted credit of more than Rs 7.5 crore for a few months in 2018.
The GST implication on these transactions is estimated to be about Rs 2.1 crore. Unaccounted cash of Rs 52.39 lakh was also found during the searches.
This was the third major search operation by the DGGI in Madhya Pradesh recently, after similar searches on the premises of a media baron and chewing tobacco trader Kishore Wadhwani, accused of tax evasion to the tune of Rs 400 crore.
The DGGI said that during transit remand process at a Mumbai court, the accused Wadhwani said he had coronavirus. Later, he tested negative.
GST intelligence officers have arrested the CEO of SOM distillery in connection with alleged tax evasion of Rs 30 crore. The promoters Jagdish Arora and Ajay Arora were interrogated for over 28 hours before their arrest. Then they complained of health issues and were admitted to the intensive care unit of JP Hospital. They were taken to court after doctors declared that their health was fine.