BENGALURU: A chartered accountant and another man who had cheated the owner of a private firm in the guise of associate chartered accountants, were arrested by Sanjaynagar police. They reportedly conned him of Rs 9.6 crore under the guise of making GST payment.
Police identified the accused as Nikhil, who cleared his CA exam but was not a practising CA, and Vinay Babu, an accountant. Police are on the lookout for three more accused. The complainant, the owner of an automotive company, had approached the victims to file GST annual returns.
Firms having a turnover of over Rs 2 crore in a financial year must get annual GST accounts audited and certified by a practising chartered accountant. The accused, who submitted the GST accounts audit report, told the victim to pay Rs 9.6 crore as GST.
They managed to hoodwink the complainant by making him send money to their accounts, under the belief that he was paying the pending GST. The accused had purchased some properties worth Rs 3 crore, which police have recovered. They also spent a few crores for their personal use.
“A case was registered in the last week of November. Nikhil, Vinay Babu and three others cheated the complainant. The other three are yet to be arrested,” said DCP-North Vinayak Patil. The complainant had initially filed a case with Sadashivanagar pol ice station. The case was later transferred to Sanjaynagar police station.