Mumbai: CGST arrests director of Rao IIT Academy

A ‘college’ of the Academy in Sion. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

Central GST officials have arrested the director of the Rao IIT Academy for misappropriation of tuition fees collected through colleges and coaching classes amounting to Rs 14 crore. The academy is the same whose Sion-based college recently was derecognised by the state education department for running a ‘'ghost" college. mid-day, since November 2020, had reported hwo despite colleges exiting on paper, they didn't exist in reality.

The Academy has been under attack for the past few years after it allegedly enrolled students in its integrated colleges, but students never received any education either on campus or in coaching classes. When parents approached the police, the directors managed to secure anticipatory bail in the matter.

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CGST officials had begun a parallel investigation suspecting tax evasion by the academy. Acting on specific intelligence, the officers of Division - VIII, Mumbai East CGST Commissionerate have detected a new modus of tax evasion. According to CGST, Rao Edusolutions Pvt Ltd, operating under the brand name Rao IIT Academy, is suspected of collecting GST at 18 per cent on tuition fees from its students, but declaring it as unrelated and exempt services in the returns filed with the department.

Officials had sealed the academy's administrative office at Sakinaka on March 24, 2023. After the raid, during further investigation, CGST arrested Vinaykumar Pandey, the director of the company under relevant sections of CGST Act, 2017. He has been remanded to judicial custody for a period of 13 days by an Additional Metropolitan Magistrate on Friday. The State Education department has also derecognised the institute's Sion College, after an eatery was found at its registered address.