ED registers money laundering case in multi-crore VAT scam

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR) in the multi-crore VAT scam through refunds of taxes by using fake bills against 58 firms in Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The firms booked by the ED include 11 from Sirsa in Haryana, which was identified as the epicentre of the fake VAT refund claims by an SIT constituted by the Lokayukta that unearthed Rs 10,618-crore VAT scam in the state.

The ECIR has been registered under Sections 419, 420, 467, 471 and 120-B of the IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The ECIR registered against Sirsa firms, a copy of which is with The Tribune, said the inquiries conducted had revealed that false and fabricated evidences had been submitted to the Excise and Taxation Department in order to wrongly claim input tax credits.

The report further stated that while acting on several complaints of rampant corruption in the Excise and Taxation Department, the Haryana Lokayukta registered a case in 2011 and constituted an SIT headed by IG Shrikant Jadhav.

The SIT unearthed a scam of Rs 10,618 crore and observed that due to non-cooperation of certain officers of the department, the scam, which could be even bigger, could not be properly probed.

The ECIR said the probe had further revealed that besides Sirsa, FIRs had also been registered in Jhajjar, Gurugram, Kaithal and other districts of the state.

The inquiries further revealed that these dealers had shown interstate sales to claim fake refunds and used C-Forms, purportedly issued from Gujarat, Rajasthan and some other states.

The report said besides the offences under Sections 419, 420, 467, 471 and 120-B of the IPC, offence under Section 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was also suspected.

Sources in the ED said investigations had been started after registering the ECIR.