Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has arrested a 62-year-old trustee of Shri Arvindo Institute of Applied Scientific Research Trust for allegedly causing a loss of ₹58.89 crore to the government of India by donation fraud.
The accused allegedly accepted donations under the pretext of carrying out scientific research and running a college despite the ministry of science and technology department of scientific research declaring it ineligible for receiving donations. The trust used forged certificates of the concerned ministry and caused a revenue loss of ₹58.59 crore to the government.
The general cheating unit-1 of EOW recently arrested Pravinkumar Chimanlal Darji, a resident of Gujarat. DCP EOW Prakash Jadhav confirmed the development.
“Darji, in connivance with one wanted accused formed a bogus trust ‘Shri Arvindo Institute of applied Scientific research’ and accepted donations totalling ₹194,67,08,973 from 2013 to 2019 and issued bogus receipts to the donors for claiming income tax rebate,” said an EOW officer.
The trust had been earlier registered under section 35(1)(ii) of the I-T Act as a research association having as its sole object to undertake scientific research or to run a university, college, or other institution for carrying out scientific research.
In March 2018, the police booked another trustee Umesh Nagda and others after the Income Tax (I-T) department found that the trust registration expired in 2006 and it was no longer eligible to receive donations. However, the trust continued to receive donations from the public by allegedly showing bogus certificates.
The Income-Tax department then wrote to the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Scientific Research in New Delhi. “The Department of Scientific Research responded that Arvindo Institute of Applied Scientific Research Trust doesn’t exist and the certificate the trust is showing to get donations was bogus, as the department had not issued such certificates,” the complainant stated in the complaint.
Subsequently, I-T officials carried out a thorough inquiry. Officers found that the accused Nagda and others had between 2013 and 2019 accepted ₹194.67 crore as donations in seven bank accounts. To enable donors to avail of tax relaxation, the trust submitted bogus certificates and caused a revenue loss of ₹58.59 crore to the government of India, the complainant stated.
The donation received in the trust’s account was later diverted to six bank accounts of various firms in Gujarat. But when officers tried to track the fund flow, no one could be found at the offices of those firms. Police are yet to find out as to whom the trust money was being diverted, said another EOW officer.
Nagda, who was arrested in the case in May this year, earlier had claimed before the Income Tax that one Deepak Shah is the mastermind of the racket, the EOW said. Further probe revealed Darji’s involvement, following which he was arrested. “Darji is one of the trustees of the accused trust who had made signatures on Cheques, receipts etc. issued by the trust,” said a senior EOW officer. He has been remanded to police custody till August 11 by a city court.