Pune city police have booked two chartered accountants and others for allegedly helping shell companies remit Rs 4,427.92 crore abroad while evading taxes through forged documents and unauthorised Form 15 CB certificates, according to an FIR and a police press release.
An Income Tax Department officer, Tanmayee Desai, lodged the FIR at Yewalewadi police station on Sunday. The accused chartered accountants are residents of Kondhwa and operate an accounting and tax consultancy firm in Pune, police said.
The case concerns alleged transactions conducted during the financial years 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25 and 2025–26. Police said the accused allegedly conspired with other individuals and failed to properly examine transactions linked to shell companies before preparing certificates that were uploaded on the Income Tax Department portal.
Under the income-tax remittance process described by the police, a company or business entity requires a Form 15 CB certificate when it sends money abroad for a payment that is taxable in India and the aggregate amount exceeds Rs 5 lakh in a financial year. The certificate is intended to record the tax implications of the remittance and support compliance with tax rules.
Police alleged that the two chartered accountants were not authorised to issue Form 15 CB certificates. Despite this, they allegedly prepared and uploaded the documents for three companies, enabling the remittance of Rs 4,427,92,44,408 abroad. The police press release said the alleged conduct caused the government to lose tax revenue on the amount.
The case highlights the role of professional certification and digital tax filings in monitoring cross-border transfers. The allegation is not that the certificates alone transferred the money, but that false or unauthorised documentation may have helped the transactions pass through a regulated compliance process. The FIR will now be examined through the police investigation and any subsequent proceedings.
The accused have been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 318(4) for cheating, Section 234 for issuing or signing false certificates, Section 229 for giving false evidence and Section 3(5). The sections were cited by Pune police in connection with the alleged preparation and use of false certificates.
No arrest had been made when the report was published. Assistant Police Inspector Chetan More of the Pune city police Economic Offences Wing is investigating the case. The investigation is expected to establish the identities and roles of the other accused, examine the three companies named in the case, and verify the transactions and documents submitted through the Income Tax portal.
