Income Tax evasion scam: IRS officer on CBI radar

Probe on to find if he took bribes for clearances

A senior Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer attached to the investigation wing of the Income Tax department here is under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing a multi-city income tax evasion scam involving senior Income Tax (I-T) officials, chartered accountants and businessmen, The Hindu has learnt.

Arrests made

The senior I-T official emerged on the CBI’s radar following the arrests and interrogation of four people, including Salong Yaden, Joint Commissioner of I-T Department posted in Chennai, chartered accountants Sanjay Bhandari and his son Shreyans Bhandari of the S.H. Bhandari & Co and Hitesh Kawad, Managing Director of Chennai-based real estate firm SPG and RG Pvt. Ltd., on Sunday.

A senior CBI official told The Hindu that during the course of the investigation Mr. Bhandari disclosed his proximity to the senior IRS officer in Mumbai and the agency has launched an investigation into all the cases referred by Mr. Bhandari to the officer to probe whether bribes were paid to obtain I-T clearances for the chartered accountant’s clients.

Clients include major firms

“Bhandari has revealed that he helped arrange meetings between the Mumbai-based companies and the I-T officer to get clearances and evade further tax investigation. These probes into the companies were supervised by the officer himself,” the source said.

“Bhandari claims that he became close to the official when he was posted in Chennai earlier, and exploited the proximity to help his clients. The clients include major firms especially from the real estate sector,” the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. The agency also conducted searches at the premises of two more chartered accountants based on disclosures made by the Bhandari duo.

CBI also searched 16 locations in Mumbai and Chennai in connection with the investigations. The CBI team has recovered hard disks, documents and reports prepared by the chartered accountants and the I-T department for further investigation.