Person arrested for cheating clients of Rs. 7.40 cr is not a CA: ICAI

ICAI Confirms Person booked for cheating clients of Rs. 7.40 cr is not a CA : News item titled "EOW books Ghatkopar CA for cheating 50 clients of Rs. 7.40cr" (as attached) published in Hindustan Times dated October 15, 2018. After comprehensive review of the aforesaid news-item, ICAI, being a regulator of the profession of Chartered Accountants had taken up the matter and verified its records and found that Kalpesh Shamji Shah is not a Chartered Accountant as his name does not appear in the Register of members maintained by the ICAI ICAI Written to Hindustan Times that the contents of the story published thus are incorrect in so far as the reference to Chartered Accountant is concerned. In view of the above, we request you to take appropriate steps by publishing suitable article prominently in your newspaper immediately stating the facts so as to clear the doubts in the minds of readers and all stakeholders. We are sure that as responsible news daily, you will carry the facts forwarded by ICAI. It is requested that in future, if any such news item appears wherein there is an alleged involvement of Chartered Accountant, the matter may be referred to ICAI for cross verifying the credentials from its records, before going to the Press. REFER BELOW COPY OF LETTER TO EDITOR, HT, OCT 17,2018 Misc/PRG/LE-6/2018

October 17, 2018

The Editor Hindustan Times, Mumbai 6th /9th Floor, Tower 2, Indiabulls Finance Centre LBS Marg, Senapati Bapat Marg, Prabhadevi Mumbai - 400013 Dear Sir Sub: News Item titled "EOW books Ghatkopar CA for cheating 50 clients of Rs. 7.40cr" published in Hindustan Times dated October 15, 2018 We would like to draw your attention to the news item titled "EOW books Ghatkopar CA for cheating 50 clients of Rs. 7.40cr" (as attached) published in Hindustan Times dated October 15, 2018. The article states that "Acting on a complaint filed by Mahendra Moger, Superintendent of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) department and Central Excise department, Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai Police booked Chartered Accountant Kalpesh Shamji Shah ... " The content of the news item mentions about the Chartered Accountant who allegedly cheated his clients on the pretext of depositing service tax and pocketed Rs. 7.40cr by issuing fake challans. After comprehensive review of the aforesaid news-item, ICAI, being a regulator of the profession of Chartered Accountants had taken up the matter and verified its records and found that Kalpesh Shamji Shah is not a Chartered Accountant as his name does not appear in the Register of members maintained by the ICAI It is quite unfortunate that a reputed National newspaper like Hindustan Times has published the story without verifying the facts from ICAI and published such an adverse report in a manner which has caused immense damage to the credentials of CA profession in such sensitive cases, the concerned correspondent ought to have verified the facts with the Institute before issuing any statement wherein the involvement of a Chartered Accountant is suspected. The contents of the story published thus are incorrect in so far as the reference to Chartered Accountant is concerned. This is to inform that The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body set up under an Act of Parliament to regulate the Profession of Chartered Accountants in India. The Institute upholds the ethical values that form the hallmark of the profession and strongly believes that corruption is a menace to society and it can be ostensibly eradicated if there is accountability attached with calibrated powers. In view of the above, we request you to take appropriate steps by publishing suitable article prominently in your newspaper immediately stating the facts so as to clear the doubts in the minds of readers and all stakeholders. We are sure that as responsible news daily, you will carry the facts forwarded by ICAI. It is requested that in future, if any such news item appears wherein there is an alleged involvement of Chartered Accountant, the matter may be referred to ICAI for cross verifying the credentials from its records, before going to the Press. Thanking you, Yours Faithfully, (V.Sagar)