CA arrested for taking Rs 26 lakh bribe in name of Income Tax officials

CA arrested: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its anti-corruption campaign, has arrested a chartered accountant (CA) Ankush Sareen, a resident of Ludhiana, for taking a bribe of Rs 26 lakh from a man in the name of income tax officers based in Chandigarh.

A VB spokesperson said a case has been registered against Sareen, who practises privately, following an investigation into an online complaint lodged at the chief minister’s anti-corruption action line. He said complainant Parminder Singh Sidhu, a resident of Malsian village, Ludhiana district, has alleged that Sareen had taken Rs 26 lakh in two instalments for giving bribe to the income tax officers in lieu of settlement of a notice served to his relatives residing in USA regarding an income tax return.

The complainant alleged that he had handed over Rs 25 lakh cash to the CA at his residence on January 15 and made a video of the act. After this, CA Ankush Sareen had obtained Rs 1 lakh more for “junior officers of income tax department” from the complainant on January 26.

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During an inquiry from the I-T department, the complainant came to know that said notice of I-T department had not been replied to and he realised that said CA had taken a bribe fraudulently in the name of income tax officers by threatening him about heavy penalty.

When he asked the CA to return his money, he didn’t do so. The spokesperson said the VB unit of Ludhiana range investigated the allegations levelled in the complaint and registered a corruption case at VB police station Ludhiana against the CA after finding him guilty for taking bribe. Further investigation in this case was under progress, he said.