Income Tax (I-T) department has unearthed a massive, nationwide fraudulent tax refund racket allegedly masterminded by a 30-year-old woman operating out of a slum in Meerut.
Accused Nancy Agrawal allegedly engineered fictitious deductions and exemptions worth Rs 357 crore, enabling her to secure around Rs 65.5 crore in fraudulent tax refunds for over 3,000 clients across the country.
Operating from her 25-square-yard home where she lives with her parents and younger brother, Agrawal utilised her background as an accountant with a small firm to exploit systemic loopholes. Investigators revealed that she spent the last three years “systematically exploiting Section 80GGC of the Income-tax Act”, which allows individuals to claim tax deductions for donations made to political parties.
Agrawal fabricated huge donations to unrecognised political parties on behalf of her clients to trigger substantial, ineligible refunds. Agrawal built a nationwide client network through referral discounts, luring mostly salaried individuals into claiming ineligible deductions,” said officials, the I-T officer investigating the case.
To expand her operations, Agrawal offered promotional discounts to existing clients if they brought in new customers willing to file false ITRs.
The multi-crore racket was unraveled on Tuesday following a series of coordinated raids conducted by the Meerut Income Tax Investigation Unit.
Officials targeted four premises linked to Agrawal and opened two of her bank lockers. The search led to the seizure of Rs 5 lakh in cash and uncovered fixed deposits worth Rs 4 crore.
Extensive documentary and digital evidence, including handwritten ledgers, computers, and laptops detailing her client network were also recovered.
The department has now begun proceedings to prosecute Agrawal and also to send notices to the beneficiary taxpayers to recover the fraudulent claims.
According to officials, the clients are predominantly salaried individuals who-either knowingly or unknowingly-were lured by Agrawal’s promises of high refunds through fabricated exemptions. A comprehensive probe into the full extent of the fraud is currently underway.
Source from: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/salaried-employees-lured-by-high-refunds-from-meerut-slum-30-year-old-woman-engineers-rs-357-crore-tax-fraud/articleshowprint/132472400.cms
