HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh police have booked a chartered accountant and operators of seven firms for allegedly facilitating foreign remittances worth ₹186 crore using false Form 15CB certificates and bypassing mandatory tax scrutiny between 2022-23 and 2026-27, as reported by TOI.
Arundalpet police in Guntur registered the FIR on August 22. The case is the third to emerge from recent Income Tax department investigations into suspected irregularities in foreign remittances. Hyderabad Central Crime Station and the Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing had earlier registered two similar cases.
Police filed the case on a complaint by Subhash Koritepati, assistant director of Income Tax (investigation), Unit-IV(2), Vijayawada. They booked chartered accountant Chinna Venkata Subramanyam Dama and others under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for alleged cheating, issuing false certificates and using certificates known to be false.
EAGLE Force Freezes ₹100 Crore Drug-Linked Assets
Seven entities allegedly used certificates for remittances
The seven entities named in the FIR are Visno Software Creations and Technology, Vijuwal Secure IT Creations and Technology, Unic IT Services and Technologies, Skavenger Shipping and Logistics Private Limited, Pratyagra Shipping and Logistics, Trailokya Solutions and an entity linked to Sai Kumar Nemala.
The Income Tax department alleges that Form 15CB certificates issued by Dama helped these entities obtain bank clearances for foreign remittances totalling ₹186 crore.
The case followed a search by the Directorate of Investigation, Income Tax department, Hyderabad, at Dama's Guntur office on August 18.
According to the complaint, investigators found that Dama had allegedly facilitated outward foreign remittances by issuing Form 15CB certificates to entities that did not exist at their registered addresses.
Verification raises questions over firms
Officials from the Income Tax department's Foreign Asset Investigation Unit-2, Hyderabad, conducted physical verification of the entities.
The verification reportedly found that the firms had not filed income tax returns despite routing substantial amounts abroad.
Investigators also alleged that Dama issued the certificates without properly examining the records required under law.
The allegations are part of the ongoing investigation, and the accused will have an opportunity to respond to the charges.