Chinese goods worth Rs 4 crore seized from warehouse

The Commercial Tax officials raided a warehouse on HAL Airport Road where goods from China worth around Rs 4 crore were stored and around 60 registrations linked to Chinese nationals in Wuhan were found. The officials have sealed the warehouse and investigating further.

The warehouse was rented by a Chinese national from Wuhan. He had stored around 25,446 electronic gadgets and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in it.

A team headed by Nitesh K Patil, Additional Commissioner (Enforcement), South Zone raided the house. In a press release, the officials stated that a person from Wuhan had taken the warehouse on lease.

The registrations under the GST Act include both central and state jurisdictions, under different names for the trading of imported China goods but had a single address which they found to be vacant. The 60 registrations linked to a Chinese national from Wuhan.

Most of these registrations made from 2017 till day was found to be irregular in filing payment of tax and returns, they were nil returns or non-filers, the officers stated in the release. The registrations were private limited companies, 24 persons among them were directors of 58 firms.

During the raid, the officials didn't find the lessee from Wuhan or the rest of the registered taxable persons. None of them even came to participate in proceedings. The officers suspect that Chinese nationals are operating the business from Wuhan from January this year with the help of few agents or employees in the city.

Commissioner of Commercial Tax, MS Srikar told in the release that multiple registrations are taken for the better ratings on e-commerce platforms.