‘Accidental PM’ director held for fraud

Mumbai, August 3

Filmmaker Vijay Ratnakar Gutte has been arrested for alleged GST fraud of over Rs 34 crore, an official said.

Gutte, director of upcoming film “The Accidental Prime Minister”, was arrested by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence on Thursday and produced before a metropolitan magistrate court here, which remanded him in judicial custody till August 14, he said.

According to the official, Gutte’s firm, VRG Digital Corp Pvt Ltd, allegedly procured 149 fake invoices involving GST of Rs 34.37 crore for animation and manpower services received from another company, Horizon Outsource Solutions Pvt Ltd.

In May this year, the DGGSTI had arrested the director of Horizon Outsource Solutions for an alleged GST fraud.

Gutte has so far produced three films—”Emotional Attyachar”, “Time Bara Vait” and “Badmashiyaan”. His directorial debut, “The Accidental Prime Minister”, is slated to release on December 21. The film, based on a book of the same name about former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, features veteran actor Anupam Kher in the lead role. — PTI