A father-son duo has been arrested by the Central Goods and Services Tax department in connection with what is being called as a Rs 22-crore fake input tax credit (ITC) racket.

       The duo are proprietors of M/s Shah Enterprises and M/s U S Enterprises, which are engaged in trading ferrous waste and scrap, according to an official statement on Tuesday evening.

       Acting on a tip-off from the Central Intelligence Unit of the Mumbai CGST Zone, officials from the Thane CGST Commissionerate arrested the duo whose names were not shared from suburban Kandivali on an unspecified date.

       Both the firms were found to be availing fake ITC from fake entities and passing on the same to other entities of this vicious network, as per the statement.

       The statement said both the companies are registered with GST and were found to be indulging in fraudulent availment and passing of ITC to the tune of Rs 11.80 crore and Rs 10.23 crore, respectively, without receiving the goods or services.

       After the arrest, they were produced before a local court which remanded them to a 14-day judicial custody.

       The statement said the arrests are part of a large-scale operation to stamp out the fake ITC network which had been causing unhealthy competition and also defrauding the government, and warned that the department is going to intensify the same.

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