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Punjab VAT refund scam: CBI to lodge preliminary enquiry Chandigarh, December 4 Sources in the premier investigating agency told The Tribune that they have sought permission from their Delhi head office to register the enquiry. Once the PE is registered, the CBI will get records of the scam from the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department. The investigation will also pinpoint the role of three companies and excise officials in allowing the refund of VAT on paper transactions to these companies, besides examining the records of 5,399 companies operating in Punjab that have obtained VAT refunds. Three Ludhiana-based companies -- York International, Jaldhara Exports and Trimurti Hosiery -- had obtained VAT refunds worth crores by claiming to send hosiery goods to Bangladesh and other states. However, it was found that the goods were neither sold nor sent outside the state. Once the scam came to the notice of the Excise and Taxation Department, an economic intelligence unit (EIU) was set up. It started investigating the matter and concluded that the goods were never dispatched and were fraudulently shown to have been transported outside the state and exported to Bangladesh, by submitting bogus bills and bogus transportation receipts. Bills showed goods transported by train and road reached Bangladesh border, around 1,800 km away, the same day it left factories, which created suspicion.A team of the economic intelligence unit also visited the Bangladesh border to crosscheck the facts. It was then concluded that this scam was just the tip of the iceberg, and there were many other fake refund claims based on bogus sales. It is for this reason that the state government has now come up with a star-rating scheme for companies seeking a VAT refund. Because of the fraudulent VAT refunds, the government has linked the refunds to the company’s credit and tax culture. CBI sources told The Tribune they already have certain case files from the Punjab and Haryana High Court that were part of the petition filed in the court wherein one of the accused had moved the court to seek anticipatory bail. "We will be using these case files to register a preliminary enquiry now, following which we will start examining VAT refund records. For this, we will seek the records from the state government once the preliminary enquiry is registered," a CBI official said. The CBI officer said they will be examining if all claims of VAT refunds by these 5,399 companies have been validly processed and refunded. Punjab has refunded Rs 373 crore for inter-state sale of goods to 4,404 firms, while Rs 109 crore has been refunded for exports to 995 companies, including VAT refunds to the three companies. Anatomy of the scam
* Ludhiana-based firms -- York International, Jaldhara Exports and Trimurti Hosiery -- obtained VAT refunds worth crores by claiming to send hosiery goods to Bangladesh and other states *
Bills showed goods transported by train and road reached the Bangladesh border around 1,800 km away the same day they left factories! *
The economic intelligence unit found the goods were neither sold nor sent outside Punjab and the refund was taken against bogus bills and receipts *
The CBI would also examine the records of 5,399 companies operating in Punjab that obtained VAT refunds.
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