Mumbai Scrap Dealers Booked For ₹111 Crore VAT, Sales Tax Evasion; EOW Launches Probe

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has filed a case against a scrap dealer couple for cheating the state VAT and Sales Tax department of ₹111 crore. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Amboli Police Station against STC Global Metal Pvt. Ltd. directors Imran Daudhaji Vahevaria and Senhila Imran Vahevaria for defrauding the exchequer of Value Added Tax (VAT) and Sales Tax totalling ₹111,03,12,229 through scrap metal trading.

The state Sales Tax department’s Deputy Commissioner Dr. Atul Ghusle had filed a complaint in December 2024 with the EOW against the Vahevaria couple for causing a loss of ₹111 crore to the state between 2013 and 2016 by evading VAT and Sales Tax. “The state tax department had repeatedly served notices to the scrap dealer couple demanding payment of the long-overdue taxes. The bank accounts registered by STC Global Metals with the Sales Tax department were found to be closed, and the outstanding tax amount remained unpaid,” an EOW official said.

A preliminary enquiry (PE) was ordered by the EOW, culminating in a case being registered against the Vahevaria couple under the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act for failure to deposit the arrears in the government treasury, even after assessment orders were passed against them. The EOW will further investigate the financial loss caused to the state by the Andheri-based scrap metal traders to determine further criminal action.