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Chennai: CBI probing Rs 1.38 crore refund claim by worker

The refund claim was for Rs 1.38 crore for TDS of Rs 2 crore made on the FD of Rs 97 crore.

Chennai: Sleuths of the anti-corruption branch of CBI, Chennai, are probing a fraudulent income tax refund claim of Rs 1.38 crore in the name of a construction worker residing in Tirunelveli district on fixed deposits made by Supreme Court in Delhi.

The claim, which appeared with his Pan, caught income tax officials’ attention because of huge refund claim on tax deducted at source, while the Pan holder was daily wage worker.

The refund claim was from TDS deducted from fixed deposit of Rs 97 crore made by drawing and disbursing officer, Supreme Court of India, in the year 2011. The particular FD was not linked to any Pan. The refund claim was for Rs 1.38 crore for TDS of Rs 2 crore made on the FD of Rs 97 crore.

Initial enquiry revealed Esakkimuthu, on whose behalf the claim came up, had been earning Rs 400 as daily wage who used to work at a construction site in Delhi and he had no knowledge of such claim. During an enquiry, he told he had shared his Pan, pay slip, original cheque book of saving bank account with a site engineer there to avail loan from a bank.

When the Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (Tan) was verified it was revealed that the Tan belonged to Union bank of India on Ansari Road in New Delhi. The bank also noted that Pan does not belong to any of the customers. The bank also noted that the TDS does not belong to Esakkimuthu’s Pan and his Pan was not mentioned at their level.

During further probe it was found that Esakkimuthu’s Pan was fraudulently introduced in the e-TDS return by somebody else.

It is believed that those who promised loans to Esakkimuthu while he was working in Delhi, had played a major role in the fraud attempt. Once the refund amount lands in the bank account of Esakkimuthu, the fraudsters were planning to use the cheque procured from him to encash it, sources noted.

CBI sleuths, after registering a case in Chennai last week, based on a complaint from principal commissioner of income tax, Madurai are now hunting for the persons responsible filing for returns using Esakkamuthu’s Pan and interpolated E-TDS return filed with a view to siphon off Rs 1.38 crore.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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