Gujarat journalist Mahesh Langa controlled company involved in CGST fraud case: ED
In its money laundering probe against Ahmedabad-based journalist Mahesh Langa, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday accused him of being a key figure in a multi-crore CGST fraud case, and said the probe so far has unearthed a network of 200 shell companies created by a criminal syndicate to fraudulently claim input tax credit (ITC) without supply of any goods or services.
"Dhruvi Enterprises was created on fake documents to obtain GST registration. Later, this entity raised fake invoices in the name of 12 different entities, including DA Enterprises, which availed fraudulent ITC from the GST department. During investigation, it has come to notice that one Mahesh Langa was controlling DA Enterprises, from whose premises a large quantity of unaccounted cash was seized by the police, and it is further gathered that various other benami transactions are suspected to have happened with shell companies," the ED said.
On Sunday, the agency carried out searches across several cities in Gujarat for the second time, including on the premises of Langa and his associates in Ahmedabad, Surat and Bhavnagar and claimed to have seized several "incriminating documents" related to the fraudulent ITC claims by the network of shell entities. In this case, ED's Ahmedabad unit had earlier conducted searches at 23 locations in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Veraval, Rajkot, Surat and Kodinar where these shell companies had their registered addresses and were availing ITC based on fake invoices.
