Three including former income tax officer, detained in Mumbai’s fake tax refund scam

In connection with a Rs 263 crore Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a former income tax officer inspector and two other people on Friday in Mumbai.

The primary suspect, Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, allegedly engineered the scheme by creating phoney TDS refunds of Rs 263 crore while he was based in Mumbai, according to sources at the financial investigation agency. They were the subject of a complaint from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The accused reportedly transferred the money between several bank accounts, including those of his friends Rajesh Shetty and Bhushan Patil. Bhushan Anant Patil and Rajesh Shantaram Shetty, the other two those accused, were also taken into custody.

A total of 32 movable and immovable properties worth Rs 69.65 crore were attached by the ED in January in Maharashtra and Karnataka in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) provisions.

The linked property includes real estate, apartments, and high-end vehicles registered in the names of Kriti Verma, a former GST inspector, Rajesh Shetty, and Bhushan Anant Patil, among others. In the past, freezing orders under the PMLA were issued for 33 bank accounts belonging to different organisations with a combined balance of Rs 96.23 crore and for cash seizures of Rs 2.85 lakh.