ED attaches properties valued at Rs 36.47 lakh in Arunachal Pradesh in fake ITC availment case

New Delhi/Itanagar, Aug 13 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached properties worth Rs 36.47 lakh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a case relating to fraudulent availment, utilisation and layering of Input Tax Credit (ITC) in Arunachal Pradesh, the central probe agency said on Thursday.

The ED’s Itanagar Sub-Zonal Office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties valued at around Rs 36.47 lakh under the PMLA, 2002, as per the provisional attachment order of August 11 in a case relating to fraudulent availment, utilisation and layering of Input Tax Credit (ITC).

The attached properties comprise bank balances and a commercial plot situated at Naharlagun’s B-Sector in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh, the ED said in an official statement.

It said that the ED initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Bureau of Investigation (Economic Offences) Police Station in Guwahati against M/s Amit Traders and others under the Indian Penal Code.

Investigation revealed that M/s Shree Ram Enterprises had fraudulently generated ITC of around Rs 116 crore during 2022-23 financial year through fictitious invoices without any actual supply of goods or services, which was layered through a network of non-existent entities and passed on to various downstream beneficiaries.

M/s Shree Ram Enterprises generated around Rs 41.43 crore in fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) passed through a network of fictitious shell entities without any underlying supply of goods or services.

Existing downstream beneficiaries then availed this fake ITC. Some of them include Yalpu Enterprise (Property: Tatum Teli Comdir valued at Rs 47.01 lakh), Zee Engineering and Construction (Property: Smt. Likha Nap valued at Rs 25.03 lakh), and Angela Enterprises (Property: Kotu Bui valued at Rs 10 lakh).

The present attachment covers the bank balance of M/s Sun Force Solar Private Limited, attached as direct proceeds of crime being directly traceable to the tainted funds, together with bank balances and the immovable property held by Tatum Teli Comdir (Property: M/s Yalpu Enterprise), Kotu Bui (Property: M/s Angela Enterprises) and Likha Nap (Property: M/s Zee Engineering and Construction), attached as the value of the proceeds of crime fraudulently availed and utilised by their respective concerns.

Earlier, in the same case, ED had provisionally attached properties valued at Rs 3.30 crore, since confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA, and had filed a chargesheet under the same Act before the Special PMLA Court.

With the present attachment, the cumulative value of properties provisionally attached in the case stands at around Rs 3.66 crore.

Further investigation in connection with the matter is underway.

–IANS

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