The Odisha Police on Wednesday said it has arrested a person from Haryana for allegedly being involved in a pan-India income tax refund racket. The accused, aged 28, was operating the racket along with his associates from the National Capital Region, it said. "The arrested person, a resident of Haryana's Faridabad, is a chartered accountant (intermediate) and one of the main conspirators of the pan-India TDS refund fraud," the Economic Offence Wing of the state police said in the statement.
He owned dubious firms and was operating the syndicate by forging documents and identities of other companies, it said. "The EOW sleuths arrested the person on September 9. He was produced before the Court of J.M.F.C, Faridabad and brought to Bhubaneswar on transit remand," police said. The is the first arrest in the income tax refund fraud case, it said, adding that efforts are on to apprehend others involved in the racket.
The case was registered after an income tax department officer here complained to the state police, alleging that a TDS return was filed in the first quarter of 2020-21 by a company with a "false and fabricated challan of Rs 2.70 crore", the statement said. During the investigation, it was found that the accused along with others forged the TDS challan filed by the company in the financial year 2020-21 for Rs 2.70 crore, and the amount has been credited to 32 beneficiaries.
"A substantial amount of the refund has been diverted to the personal account of the accused and also to the accounts of his firms. "Some amounts have also been diverted to accounts of some other firms which are ultimately managed by the accused," the EOW said, adding that "Rs.17.77 lakh has so far been misappropriated by him".
During the investigation, a mobile phone of the arrested person has been seized as it contains several incriminating communications relating to the fraudulent activities, it added.
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