Gutte was held by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) for submitting fake invoices under his firm, VRG Digital Corp Pvt Ltd.
Director Vijay Gutte arrested for GST fraud of upto Rs34 crore
Mumbai - 03 Aug 2018 14:10 IST
Our Correspondent
First-time filmmaker Vijay Gutte has been arrested on the charges of submitting fake invoices by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) and booked under Section 132 (1)(c) of CGST Act. He has been remanded to judicial custody by the Mumbai court till 14 August.
Gutte is the director of the upcoming film, The Accidental Prime Minister, and his father is the sugar baron Ratnakar Gutte who ran for the 2014 assembly polls in Gangakhed.
The director's firm, VRG Digital Corp Pvt Ltd, allegedly submitted 149 fake invoices to avail input tax credit (ITC) amounting to Rs34 crore from Horizon Outsource Solutions Pvt Ltd without any receipt. Furthermore, Gutte's firm also claimed a cash refund of Rs28 crore against CENVAT (Central Value Added Tax) using the same fake invoices.
Section 132 (1)(c) of the CGST Act states that anyone who issues any invoice or bill without supply of goods or services and wrongly avails a refund of tax can be punished.
The company that Gutte's firm attributed for the fake invoices, Horizon Outsource Solutions Pvt Ltd, has already come under scrutiny by the DGGSTI for GST fraud of over Rs170 crore.
The DGGSTI said that Gutte was non-cooperative in the investigation. He could likely be fined and imprisoned for up to five years if found guilty.
Gutte's father, Ratnakar, has also been accused of securing loans of over Rs5,400 crore using fake documents in the names of ordinary farmers.
Director Vijay's first film is due to be out on 21 December amidst two big films, Zero (2018) and Simmba (2018). Previously, Gutte had produced The Film Emotional Atyachar (2010), Time Bara - Vait (2015) and Fun Never Ends Badmashiyaan (2015).
