Pune: A significant tax evasion scheme has been uncovered, revealing that unknown individuals misused the PAN card of Aditya Mehendale, son of former Additional Chief Secretary Leena Mehendale, to evade taxes worth crores of rupees over the past three years. This fraud was exposed after the Income Tax Department issued a notice to Aditya Mehendale.
Leena Prakash Mehendale, the former Additional Chief Secretary, residing in Kothrud, filed a complaint at the Kothrud police station. Consequently, a case has been registered against the culprits for the misuse of the PAN card.
According to the police, the Income Tax Department had sent an email notice to Aditya regarding tax payments, which mentioned his PAN card. Aditya, who works abroad, has no taxable income in India, and his PAN card was not in active use.
The investigation revealed that Aditya's PAN card was misused to claim annual tax deductions for house rent allowances in the names of employees of 300 companies over the past three years.
Upon discovering this, the Mehendales filed a complaint with the police. Senior Police Inspector Sandeep Deshmane stated, "The PAN card of former IAS officer Leena Mehendale's son was misused. A case has been registered against unknown individuals."
The police are now investigating the details of this scam. Employees living on rent receive house rent allowances from their companies. If house rent expenses are shown in tax returns, the Income Tax Department provides tax relief.
It has come to light that Aditya Mehendale's PAN card was misused to claim such benefits. The police are determining whether the companies involved benefited from this misuse or if employees submitted fake documents to commit the fraud.
