Hyderabad: The anti-evasion branch of the CGST Secunderabad Commissionerate has arrested a Musheerabad-based businessman in connection with an alleged ₹32.28 crore fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) case, involving bogus invoices and suppliers that officials said had no genuine business activity.According to a press release issued by the Commissionerate on Friday, the accused was described as the mastermind behind the alleged ITC fraud. The company under his control was engaged in trading TMT bars, steel pipes and tubes.Suppliers found non-existentThe investigation found that the company had availed ITC on invoices issued by firms that were allegedly non-existent or non-functional, while some had GST registrations that had been cancelled.Field verification by jurisdictional GST authorities found that the supplier firms had no genuine business activity at their declared places of business, the department said.Officials further alleged that the ITC was claimed without actual receipt of goods. The credit was subsequently utilised to discharge the GST liability, which the department said was in contravention of the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.Accused sent to judicial custodyBased on evidence gathered during the probe and statements recorded, CGST officials arrested the accused on Sept 24 under Section 69 of the CGST Act.He was produced before the duty magistrate and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.The case was detected as part of the ongoing enforcement drive by the CGST Secunderabad Commissionerate against fraudulent ITC claims. Further investigation is underway, officials said.
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