YSRCP leader Rambabu Pula cheated the govt Rs 49 Cr, arrested

Hyderabad: A day after sleuths of Central Excise and GST raided his premises, top ruling YSRCP leader Rambabu Pula was arrested for creating fake invoices, cheating, and tax evasion.

Rambabu Pula is accused of creating ghost companies only to raise fake bills in order to avoid paying GST. He created firms to avail input tax. Sources said he has been booked for cheating the government of Rs 48.99 crore.Preliminary investigation has revealed that Rambabu floated six companies, one in the name of his wife and the remaining five in the name of his close aides.

These companies passed on input tax credits based on fake invoices only to escape from paying tax. His ghost companies include M/s Gopal Trade Impex, Ms/ Maruthi Enterprises, M/s S. V Enterprises, M/s Lasya Enterprises, M/s Abhigna Enterprises and M/s S. V Enterprises.He created e-way bills to avail ineligible Input Tax Credit to the tune of Rs 48.99 Crore. The department has so far recovered Rs 2.31 Crore.

However, the investigation has found that Rambabu, who has businesses in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, has established an organized network of firms to cheat the government.

"He was duping the exchequer by creating a complex web of inter-connected firms engaged in the fraudulent issuance of tax invoices without supplying goods or services to enable the recipient companies to avail and utilize fake input tax credit leading to the loss of government revenue" officials of GST said.

During questioning, the accused accepted his involvement in cheating the government by evading tax. He was produced before the Economic offences court which sent him to judicial remand up to February 16.