Rs 80-cr bogus billing scam unearthed in state

Sun, Nov 8 06:06 AM

Gujarat commercial tax authorities have unearthed a Rs 80-crore bogus billing scam involving some traders of Mehsana district in north Gujarat region.

To avoid payment of VAT (value added tax), they resorted to preparing fake bills.

"On being alerted about this, 16 teams of officials of the commercial tax department searched the locations and seized the bills," the department release stated.

"Prima facie, it appears to be a scam of around Rs 80 crore, but the documents and other material collected from the locations are being scrutinised and it may unearth a bigger scam also," the release stated.

Meanwhile, officials have also seized bank accounts of the traders and trading firms that were found to be indulging in such malpractices in order to evade taxes.

Criminal cases will also be registered against the traders and those who helped in carrying out such nefarious activities, senior officials of the state Finance Department said.

According to them, more search operations will be carried out from now on to check tax evasion and also malpractices in trading activities in the state.

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