ED Searches 9 Locations, Attaches Properties In Connection With Surrogacy, GST Fraud

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids related to an illegal surrogacy racket in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam, seizing incriminating documents. S

ED said its investigation has established that "the syndicate earned a commission of approximately Rs 67 crore from this criminal activity, which constitutes the Proceeds of Crime (POC).

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Hyderabad (Telangana) [India] October 3 (ANI): The Enforcement Department (ED) has conducted searches at 9 locations in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam on September 25th. The raids conducted under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), 2002 in connection with the illegal surrogacy racket being run by Dr. Pachipalli Namrata alias Athaluri Namrata in the name of Universal Srishti Fertility and Research Centre. During the searches, various incriminating documents were recovered and seized.

Earlier, ED has attached 10 immovable West Bengal-based properties valued at Rs 15.41 crore that belong to Amit Gupta, one of the masterminds of a large-scale GST fraud syndicate, and his associates. ED's Ranchi Zonal Office attached these properties in Kolkata and Howrah on September 29 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

In a statement, the ED said it initiated an investigation based on multiple complaints filed by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Jamshedpur, against a criminal syndicate led by Shiva Kumar Deora, Amit Gupta, Sumit Gupta, and Amit Agarwal, also known as Vicky Bhalotia.

ED investigation revealed that "the accused masterminds orchestrated a sophisticated fraud by creating and operating a network of 135 shell companies across Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Delhi."

"The syndicate's modus operandi involved the issuance of bogus GST invoices without any actual supply of goods, thereby fraudulently generating and passing on fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) valued at over Rs 734 crore," said the ED." This fraudulent ITC was then sold for a commission to various end-user entities, which used the illicit credit to evade their legitimate GST liabilities, causing a massive loss to the government exchequer."

ED said its investigation has established that "the syndicate earned a commission of approximately Rs 67 crore from this criminal activity, which constitutes the Proceeds of Crime (POC). (ANI)

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)