2 CAs booked for tax evasion by illegally sending Rs 4,427 crores abroad through shell companies

Pune police have charged two chartered accountants and others for tax evasion by illegally transferring Rs 4,427 crores overseas through shell companies over the past four years. The Income Tax department's officer Tanmayee Desai filed the initial complaint at the Yewalewadi police station on Sunday. The accused chartered accountants, based in Kondhwa, operate an accounting and tax consultancy firm in Pune.

According to police, to send money abroad, a company must obtain a "Form 15 CB" document for taxable payments exceeding Rs 5 lakhs annually. The pair allegedly conspired with others to approve Form 15 CB for fraudulent shell companies, cheating the government by sending the funds abroad without authorization. The police claim the chartered accountants were not authorized to issue the documents, but they prepared and submitted them to the Income Tax portal, benefiting three companies.

The total amount transferred abroad was Rs 4,427,92,44,408, and no arrests have been made yet. Investigating the case is Assistant police inspector Chetan More of the Economic Offences Wing of the Pune city police.