Gujarat GST fraud case: ED conducts multi-city raids; finds journo Mahesh Langa controlling 'benami firm'

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches in at least seven locations spread over three cities of Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar and Surat over alleged money laundering charges against M/s Dhruvi Enterprises & others.

During search operations, the investigation agency claimed to have recovered and seized many incriminating documents from the suspicious company and also found it spawning many other fake entities including M/s DA Enterprises.

The agency claimed that Mahesh Langa, senior assistant editor of a leading daily, allegedly controlled the benami company and its transactions, which purportedly used shell companies for evading the GST.

"It has come to notice that Mahesh Langa was controlling the firm M/s DA Enterprises, from whose premises a large quantum of unaccounted cash was seized by the police authorities, and it is further gathered that various other benami transactions are suspected to have happened with shell companies," the agency said in a statement.

The findings come against the backdrop of the arrest of senior journalist Mahesh Langa for being in possession of certain confidential documents related to the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB). The documents were recovered from his possession, during his arrest in the GST fraud case.

The ED sleuths geared into action today after receiving a complaint from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) against the creation of more than 200 shell entities by a group of organized criminals in order to fraudulently receive and pass-on the Input Tax Credit (ITC).

The ED had initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Crime Branch Police.

The FIR lodged by DGGI revealed that one entity by name M/s Dhruvi Enterprises was created by certain individuals based on fake documents and obtained GST registration.

Later, this entity raised invoices in the name of 12 different entities including M/s DA Enterprises, who availed fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) from GST Department.

During the investigation, enquiries were made from statutory authorities and various statements were recorded under the PMLA, 2002.

Searches were conducted at the locations of such persons/entities, to unearth a larger conspiracy involved in the same.

In this case, the ED had previously conducted searches in at least 23 locations in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Veraval, Rajkot, Surat and Kodinar.