Indore, June 19 (IANS) The Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax
Intelligence (DGGI) on Thursday told a local court that it apprehended
that Rs 233 crore siphoned through tax evasion by ''gutkha baron''
Kishore Wadhwani has been illegally transferred to Pakistan and Dubai.
The central agency investigating the case of GST evasion of GST through
illegal trading of pan
masala and tobacco products presented the scam''s
''mastermind'' Wadhwani and his alleged accomplices before Judicial
Magistrate, First Class, Anupriya Parashar under strict security
arrangement.
The court allowed the agencies'' request for remand till June 22.
Wadhwani, 55, of Indore was arrested from a hotel in Mumbai on Monday by
the DGGI as part of "Operation Cancer" related to the revelations of
massive evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST). He was brought to
Indore in transit custody. DGGI Special Public Prosecutor Chandan Aron
pleaded for Wadhwani''s remand.
The prosecution told the court that Wadhwani is the prime conspirator of
the inter-state GST evasion case and the main recipient of illegal
benefits of tax evasion. Aron argued that the central agency has to
investigate and gather evidence on the clues that the money has been
sent to Pakistan and Dubai.
The court was told that Wadhwani has a United Arab Emirates residence visa and has also invested in the hotel business in Dubai.
Wadhwani''s lawyers claimed that all allegations against him were false and said he had nothing to do with the GST theft.
The prosecution said Wadhwani had declared herself infected with
Covid-19 during transit custody in Mumbai. But on examination, his claim
was proved false.
Pakistani citizen Sanjay Mata had, with his family, sought refuge in
India. He, along with three local operatives - Vijay Kumar Nair, Ashok
Kumar Daga and Amit Kumar Bothra, have been accused of large scale
manipulation siphoning of GST money.
The DGGI and DRI recently exposed the GST scam of illegal manufacturing,
smuggling and selling of pan masala and tobacco products after raids at
several locations in Indore and Ujjain. The alleged fraud was carried
out through dummy companies.
--IANS