Rs. 175 crore in cash

Millions of tax evasion of bogus invoices exposed by stopping trucks full of arecanuts in Ahmedabad

Arrest of Piyush Jain's son, counting machines fall short: 40 companies on radar

New Delhi: Piyush Jain, a Kanpur trader of arecanut and fragrant pan masala, was robbed of Rs. 175 crore cash was seized. Vivek Johri, chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), said it was the largest seizure in the history of the CBIC.

The whole bogus invoice case exploded in Ahmedabad stopping trucks full of arecanuts. A few days back, some trucks entering the city of Ahmedabad were stopped and interrogated.

Further investigations into Kanpur and Kanauj by some officials of the Intelligence Wing of the Income Tax Department uncovered the massive tax evasion. Giving details of the raid, Vivek Johri said the DGGI's Ahmedabad unit had received information that Pan Masala and G Company were sending goods to Trimurti Fragrances, manufacturers of branded gutka, without any invoice and without paying tax.

So DGGI (Ahmedabad) started raiding the premises of Pan Masala manufacturers and their suppliers. A transporter and fragrance company from Unnao was also raided there as they were also supplying fragrance to the Pan Masala Company.

Vivek Johri further informed that one of the parties involved had confessed to tax evasion and paid Rs. 3 crore has been deposited. No arrests have been made yet. According to GST law, if the amount of invoice is more than a certain limit, it is necessary to make an invoice. During the raid, DGGI also found an item on which GST is applicable at the rate of 28 per cent.

Cash was found in two wardrobes during the raid. The cash bundles were wrapped in paper covers. Each cover had 30 such bundles. Officials of State Bank of India (Kanpur) have been enlisted to calculate the cash amount.

The cash count continues after the night of December 24. The total amount is likely to cross Rs 150 crore, GST officials said. Cash counting machines were also missing. Officials from the CBIC, IT and GST departments are likely to get even more cash in the raid.

The raid, which started on Thursday at Messrs. Trimurti Fragrances factory in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Mumbai, is still going on. The company manufactures Shikhar brand Pan Masala and other gutkas. The godown of Ganapati Road Carriers in Kanpur was also raided. After that, action is being taken against Piyush Jain's unit.

In addition, the factory of the partners of Messrs. Audochem Industries, which supplies perfume products, has also been raided. According to information provided by GST officials, bogus invoices were created in the name of bogus firms. Rs. There were about 200 such invoices of 50,000 which were created without paying GST.

Akhilesh Yadav launches socialist perfume

It may be mentioned that Piyush Jain launched the socialist perfume in Lucknow a month ago. The launch was carried out by Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. On the occasion, he said that the perfume was made from 22 flowers in view of the 2022 elections.