Income Tax Fraud: ED arrests Maharashtra IPS officer’s Husband in Rs.263 crore Fraud Case:

Income Tax Fraud: ED arrests Maharashtra IPS officer’s Husband in Rs.263 crore Fraud Case In its most recent move in the Rs.263 crore Income Tax Refund (ITR) scam case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained the husband of a top IPS officer from Maharashtra. Purshottam Chavan, who the ED claimed was in possession of some Proceeds of Crime (POC), was detained on Monday under the terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. He was brought before a special PMLA court, which remanded him to the ED's custody until May 27. However, the ED has yet to find any evidence that the Indian Police Service officer assisted her spouse. This IPS officer played a key role in the arrest of the accused in the 'Bulli Bai' app or Clubhouse crimes in 2022, in which photographs of Muslim women were posted in an attempt to "auction" them and objectionable content was disseminated in chat rooms. Prior to this, the ED detained four people in connection with the investigation, including former Income-Tax (I-T) officer Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, Bhushan Patil, and Rajesh Shetty, who are currently in judicial custody. Another accused, Rajesh Brijlal Batreja, is being held in ED custody. Adhikari, who was arrested by the Central agency last year, allegedly generated Rs.263 crore in fake Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) refunds while working at the IT Department's Mumbai headquarters. The ED's action is part of an investigation launched based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Delhi under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Adhikari and others for fraudulently generating and issuing TDS refunds from the Income Tax Department totalling Rs.263.95 crore. According to the ED, Rajesh Batreja and Chavan communicated often and shared damning texts about hawala transactions and the diversion of crime proceeds. The ED also raided Chavan's home on Sunday, seizing multiple property documents, foreign currency, and mobile phones. According to the agency, Chavan attempted to impede the inquiry by destroying evidence that could lead to the recovery of the crime's proceeds. The anti-money laundering agency has already confiscated and attached immovable and moveable properties valued at Rs 168 crore belonging to the accused in Maharashtra and Karnataka.