Pune:
Five businessmen dealing in tiles have been booked for evading Rs 4 crore sales tax and opening bank accounts by producing fake documents.
According to the Yerwada police, the accused obtained VAT number necessary for any business transactions by producing bogus documents like fake lease and licence agreement. A case of sales tax evasion has been registered against them.
The accused are absconding. The police have registered a case against Shanawaz Safique Khan, owner of Chishtiya Enterprises, Arif Gulam Rasul Shaikh, proprietor of Sanjari Enterprises, Mukeshkumar Chandra Shekhar Singh, owner of Gurudev Enterprises, Bharat Ratanshi Shaha and Dipak Suryawanshi.
The accused allegedly opened bank accounts using forged documents and made transactions worth crores of rupees. The cheating came to light after sales tax officials went to crosscheck at the addresses mentioned by these businessmen, only to find them fake.
The police said all of them had bought tiles from Gujarat and sold them in state without paying sales tax.