Investigation intensifies in TDS refund scam, properties of five accused including IPS officer's husband confiscated

The ED attached properties of five accused, including the husband of IPS officer, Purushottam Chavan, in the Income Tax TDS refund scam amounting to Rs 263 crore. Properties attached by ED are worth Rs 14.02 crore, including a flat of accused Purushottam Chavan at Mumbai, land at Lonavala, land of Rajesh Brijlal Batreja; bank deposits of a company of Anirudh Gandhi; insurance policies and FDs of Rajesh Shetty and Bhushan Anant Patil. These properties were attached under the order issued in the PMLA Act. So far, properties worth Rs 182 crore have been attached to the scam.

The CBI had lodged an FIR of money laundering against the ex-senior tax assistant Tanaji Mandal Adhikari in the TDS refund case amounting to Rs 263.95 crore in the Income Tax Department, following which ED launched its probe after the money laundering case came to light.

It is alleged that Brijlal Batreja remitted Rs 55.50 crore out of India with the help of Adhikari and Anirudh Gandhi, according to ED. Batreja subsequently concealed the money in Dubai through two other persons and further invested part of it in a company in Mumbai and Gurugram.

Whereas it claimed that Batreja, in connivance with Chavan, siphoned off some of the amount, Rs 1.70 crore was returned voluntarily. In September, a charge sheet was filed against 10 accused including Adhikari in the scam. At the same time, Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, Patil, Shetty, Batreja, and Chavan are in jail in judicial custody. Subsequent to the registration of the FIR in the case, investigations by the CBI revealed that Adhikari generated 12 fake TDS refunds amounting to Rs 263.95 crore between November 15, 2019 and November 4, 2020. The amount was—and the money withdrawn illegally was put into the bank accounts of one Anant Patil and others. Also, Bigg Boss fame Kriti Verma's name came to light during the probe in the case.