The CBI has charged 31 workers from the Indian Navy, Kerala Police and private enterprises for filing false income tax refund claims in FY 2016-17 while working in Kannur.
Reetu | Jan 21, 2023 |
CBI registers case against Kerala’s 31 personnel for Bogus IT Refund
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charged 31 workers from the Indian Navy, Kerala Police, and private enterprises for filing false income tax refund claims in the financial year 2016-17 while working in Kannur.
The case was launched by the CBI Special Crime Branch (SCB) section in Thiruvananthapuram on the recommendation of the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Kerala. On Tuesday, the case’s FIR was filed at the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court. The Indian Navy employs 18 of the 31 employees, while the Kerala Police employs two.
According to the FIR, the remaining 11 people work for private companies, including Hewlett Packard Enterprises Global Soft Private Limited, Bajaj Allianz Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance, and Indusind Bank.
The Indian Navy, Kerala Police, and private enterprises could not be reached for comment. On February 4, 2020, the Income Tax Commissioner, Kozhikode, received a complaint that numerous salaried individuals in Kannur lodged large fake refund claims for the assessment year 2016-2017.
“Assessors were claiming false refunds by making numerous deductions, which were not mentioned in Form-16, relating to rent paid, donations to political parties, and so on,” the assessing officers discovered. “In other cases, the assesses recognised that their claims were incorrect and repaid the refund amount with interest,” according to the FIR. It has been observed that some agents are complicit in the fraud and file income tax returns for employees of specific organisations, collecting 10% of the refund amount as a filing fee.
A preliminary investigation by the Income Tax Department indicated that 51 individuals falsely claimed refunds of income tax paid in cooperation with specific agents.
After being served with a notice, 20 of the 51 assesses repaid the restored amount to the tune of Rs 24.62 lakh. The remaining 31 assesses have yet to reimburse the Rs 44.07 lakh refund.
Kerala government granted CBI permission to investigate the case, on March 25, 2022.
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