ACB Gujarat arrest CA, Middlemen and GST Officer for accepting Bribe

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Gujarat has arrested the state tax officer of the State Tax department in Ahmedabad along with two middlemen including one Chartered Accountant for accepting a bribe of Rs.35000.

In partnership, the complainant operates a construction company. It refused his GST number. In this case, he had appealed to the State Tax department in Ahmedabad through the alleged CAs Ashish Subhash Agarwal and Kunal Subhash Agarwal for the reinstatement of the GST number.

Later, during a phone call, the accused Ashish and Kunal informed him that the accused state tax official from the State Tax department, Gaurang Rameshchandra Vasaiya, had requested a bribe of Rs 50,000 to expedite the application. Later, in the accused state tax officer’s office, the complainant and accused Ashish met. After haggling, he decreased the bribe payment to Rs.35,000.

As the complainant was unwilling to pay the bribe, he contacted ACB. During a trap set up by ACB, the accused Ashish was discovered accepting a Rs 35,000 bribe on behalf of the accused state tax official. The ACB located and captured the suspects Ashish and Kunal. A leave of absence prevented the accused state tax officer from being present. Legal actions are taken against the three accused.