In a shocking case of identity theft and alleged GST fraud, a 48-year-old non-resident Indian (NRI) employed in an aviation consultancy firm in the UAE has filed a police complaint after receiving a GST demand notice of Rs 2.84 crore from the Income Tax Department for a business he claims he never owned.
The complainant, Jitendra Adsool, a resident of Santacruz, Mumbai, was stunned when he received the notice in March this year, accusing him of operating a business named 'Cultural Traders' between 2019 and 2022 and allegedly earning a turnover of Rs 13.8 crore.
Adsool immediately approached the Vakola police and filed an FIR against unidentified persons under charges of forgery and identity theft. According to the FIR, Adsool alleged that his PAN card had been forged and misused to carry out transactions in his name without his knowledge.
"Mr. Adsool was completely unaware of this firm or any such income. He never ran any business in India under this name," stated the police officer handling the case.
Upon receiving the tax notice dated March 17, Adsool's family consulted their chartered accountant (CA), who contacted the I-T department to clarify the situation. During preliminary inquiries, the CA discovered that Adsool's PAN had likely been cloned and used fraudulently.
Despite repeated attempts to seek redressal from the Income Tax department, Adsool claimed that his grievances were not adequately addressed. The family finally decided to approach the police after receiving multiple follow-up emails from the tax authorities.
Police have registered a case under IPC Sections related to cheating, forgery, and using forged documents as genuine, and are currently investigating how the PAN was misused and who may be behind the scam.
The case highlights growing concerns about financial fraud involving the misuse of PAN and other identity documents, especially targeting unsuspecting NRIs. Experts recommend regularly checking one's PAN and Aadhaar usage history and reporting discrepancies immediately to the concerned authorities.
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