MM TAX CLUB

In Surat, an Aadhaar card holder with residential address in Palitana had no knowledge about the GST registration and PAN number obtained in their name by amending the mobile number linked to Aadhaar.

The state GST department has unearthed a scam with a new modus operandi where 1,500 Aadhaar cards were illegally used in the past eight months to generate bogus GST registration numbers.

To keep a check on bogus billing, the department carried out spot verification of suspected firms, including those in Surat, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Anand and Rajkot, on February 7. During operations conducted over 75 firms in Surat, it was found that duplicate documents such as Aadhaar and PAN cards were created using an android mobile application.

In Surat, an Aadhaar card holder with residential address in Palitana had no knowledge about the GST registration and PAN number obtained in their name by amending the mobile number linked to Aadhaar.

“Many residents said that in the name of government assistance, they were taken to Aadhaar centres at Palitana and their thumb impressions were taken,” stated the GST department, which conducted search operations in Palitana and seized mobiles, laptops and other digital devices from Aadhaar centres.

“On checking these seized devices, it was found that in the past eight months, more than 1,500 Aadhaar cards have had their mobile numbers amended,” the department stated adding that 470 GST registrations obtained through this illegal process were found. Of these, 118 registrations were from Gujarat, while the remaining were from other states.

“Thus a new kind of modus operandi has come to the attention of the department to obtain bogus GST numbers,” it added.

Further verification of 470 registrations obtained from modified mobile numbers in Aadhaar card revealed that more than 2,700 GST registrations were obtained across India. “Many of these GST registrations are likely to be bogus. In-depth verification is in progress,” the statement added. The department has filed an FIR in this regard at Palitana, officials said.

Meanwhile, the verification of 75 Surat firms revealed that 61 were involved in bogus billing activity. in Ahmedabad, of the 24 firms verified, 12 were found to be involved in the illegal operation.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a Prosecution complaint before Hon’ble Special Court Madurai, Tamil Nadu against M/s. Bluemax Capital Solution Private Limited and its directors R. Aravinth, S. Bharathraj, S. Gopalakrishnan and others under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in a case related to defrauding people by luring them to invest and trade in Forex, Commodities and Gold by creating a fake website promising exorbitant returns. The cognizance of the offence of the Money laundering has been taken by the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Madurai. 

Investigation under PMLA had revealed that the accused company designed a fake website and misled people in believing that they are trading in Forex, Gold and commodities in their accounts through the website. However, this was not the case and later this fake website was shut and shown to be hacked, thereby claiming to have lost all the invested money and defrauding the investors. 

Further Investigation revealed that amount to the tune of Rs.116 Crore was collected from general public, part of this amount was diverted to various overseas entities in Hong Kong, UAE, Switzerland etc. The siphoned off money was layered and was utilised to invest in Crypto currency and purchase of movable and immovable properties by the directors. Subsequently, the ED has also seized movable assets in the form of cash, jewellery and crypto currencies to the tune of Rs. 2.13 Crore and freezed bank balances to the tune of Rs.3.24 Crore during searches. 

The Directors of M/s. Bluemax Capital Solution Private Limited along with J. Amarnath, a close associate of the Directors were arrested on 18/11/2022. They are currently in Judicial Custody.

Further investigation is in progress.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has carried out search operations under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai Bangaluru and Salem in respect of an investigation relating to the misuse of App-based token named “HPZ” and other similar applications by various entities. 

The instant case was recorded on the basis of FIR registered by Cyber Crime Police Station, Kohima, Nagaland, against HPZ token & others. The HPZ Token was an App-Based Token which promised users of high returns against ‘investment’ in mining machines for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

ED Investigation revealed that two entities namely Lillian Technocab Pvt. Ltd and Shigoo Technology Private Limited were involved in the operating and collecting money from investors in the name of HPZ token. Further investigation revealed that one Bhupesh Arora with others had control over Shigoo Technology Private limited and he was indulged in operating unregistered gaming Apps/website in this company and various other entities and was collecting money fraudulently from the gullible public in the garb of these Apps/website. Further, searches were also conducted on an entity based in Chennai and related persons involved in laundering of proceeds of crime in crypto assets. 

During the searches, the total amount of Rs. 29.5 Crore was freezed under PMLA as the same was detected and found to be lying-in various Bank accounts/DEMAT Account. Various incriminating documents and digital evidences were also found and seized during the search. With the current seizure, total freezing in this case is now Rs. 86.5 Crore (approx.). 

Further investigation is under progress.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested Shailesh Kumar Pandey and Prasenjit Das under PMLA, 2002, in respect to an investigation being conducted relating to the illegal Forex Trading in TPG Global FX.

ED initiated investigation based on the FIR registered under various sections of IPC by Kolkata Police against TM Traders and KK Traders.

ED investigation has established thatPrasenjit Das and Shailesh Kumar Pandey defrauded the public under the guise of making investments in forex trading by using the platform/website of TP Global FX. Further, after collecting substantial amount from the public in the accounts of these dummy firms, such funds were layered and transferred to companies (in which accused persons were the director/proprietor) and subsequently such funds were used in purchase of movable/immovable properties for personal gains/benefits.

As Shailesh Kumar Pandey and Prasenjit Das were in Judicial Custody in the case of Kolkata Police. ED filed applications for the production of both before the Ld. Special Court, PMLA, at Kolkata. Aggrieved by the order of rejection of production warrant and petitions for custodial interrogation of the said accused person. ED filed revisional application before the Hon’ble High Court of Calcutta. The Hon’ble High Court of Calcutta remanded the accused to ED and also directed to produce the said accused before Ld. Special Court, PMLA. Accordingly, both have been arrested under PMLA and produced before the Special Court, PMLA, wherein The Ld. Special Court grant ED custody of both the accused till 23.02.2023. 

Further investigation is under progress.