Mastermind among 3 held in Rs. 175cr GST refund scam
Mumbai: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), which is investigating the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund scam amounting to Rs 175 crore, has arrested three persons, including the alleged mastermind and a state sales tax official.
The ACB arrested the mastermind, Farooq Shaikh, Farooq Contractor, and sales tax officer Amit Lalge for their alleged involvement in submitting fraudulent export documents of 16 companies, including shipping bills, claiming to have paid GST and seeking refunds totaling Rs 175 crore.
Mohan Jagdale, the investigating officer, stated that the accused were presented before the special ACB court and remanded to police custody. Last week, the ACB had arrested Kiran Bhanusali (31), a custom clearing agent, who had been on the run since March after the ACB filed an FIR.
The police arrested Contractor and Lalge on Monday and took custody of Shaikh from Arthur Road jail on Wednesday where he was previously arrested by the CBI in a Rs 2,200 crore cheating case.
