The Ahmedabad unit of Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at 23 locations across seven cities in Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Rajkot, Surat, Veraval, and Kodinar. 

Investigations are currently underway at specific businesses in Bhavnagar, including Arham Steel and Om Constructions.

This comes after a money laundering case was registered against Ahmedabad-based Dhruvi Enterprise.

What is the case against Dhruvi Enterprise?

Dhruvi Enterprise was found to be at the centre of a tax evasion scheme. The firm was found to have fabricated rent agreements and submitted them to Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) to fraudulently claim input tax credit (ITC).

The company also issued fake bills to facilitate bogus ITC claims for other entities. It was discovered that multiple GST registrations were obtained using the same PAN card across different locations.

Dhruvi Enterprise provided ITC to 12 companies, while it also claimed credit from companies whose GST registrations had already been cancelled.

Earlier, Ahmedabad Crime Branch had conducted raids at 14 locations across Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Surat, Kheda, and Bhavnagar, based on complaints related to GST fraud. During these operations, crucial documents were seized, that led to the exposure of over 200 shell  companies that were allegedly created for the purpose of committing tax fraud worth crores.

The operation had led to the arrest of a few individuals, including a journalist, and authorities have detained over 33 operators linked to the establishment of 12 shell firms.

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Bogus input tax credit scam uncovered in Gujarat, raids conducted at 14 locations

₹1,481 crore fake GST invoicing racket busted in Meerut