Brother-sister CA duo siphoned off Rs 555 crore in 5 years, Kolkata Police bust racket
August 26, 2026
The Kolkata Police have busted a major money laundering racket following an Income Tax (IT) raid at a Chartered Accountant’s (CA) office. The IT Department has filed fraud charges against the two Chartered Accountants, a brother-sister duo, involved in the firm.
Acting on a complaint lodged by an IT official, the Phulbagan Police in east Kolkata have initiated an investigation into the matter.
Police stated that IT officials raided the CA firm located in the Kadapara area of Kankurgachi (Phulbagan), recently. They had received information that the firm had misappropriated a massive sum of money and laundered it overseas.
The firm is managed by two Chartered Accountants, who are siblings. During the raid, officials searched the premises and recovered a large cache of documents, including several certificates used to facilitate the transfer of funds abroad.
However, preliminary scrutiny revealed that these certificates were forged.
“The investigation is going on. Both cases (referring to another similar case filed earlier) taken over by the Detective Department,” Additional CP (crime) Kunal Agarwal told The Statesman.
According to IT officials, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clear guidelines regarding the transfer of funds abroad. These regulations require the relevant bank to obtain a certificate from a CA. Before issuing such a certificate, the CA firm is required to verify several details: the agreement between the sender and the recipient, other supporting documents, books of accounts, and the tax liability associated with the amount being transferred.
However, during a search of the firm in Phulbagan, IT officials recovered several documents, specifically certificates, that had been used as the basis for remitting funds abroad. Preliminary scrutiny revealed that these certificates were fraudulent; they had been generated based on transactions involving non-existent, shell entities.
Upon uncovering this, IT officials interrogated the two Chartered Accountants.
According to the complaint lodged by the IT Department with the police, the duo admitted during questioning that they had issued the fraudulent certificates without verifying any books of account or documents belonging to the remitters.
Based on these certificates, a sum of Rs 555,44,52,951 was laundered abroad between 2021 and 2026. The IT Department asserts that this has caused economic loss to the nation.
Income Tax officials believe that a larger syndicate is operating behind this massive money laundering scheme, involving individuals directly linked to the accused siblings. These associates facilitated the money laundering process in various ways, necessitating a search for them as well.
An Income Tax official filed a formal complaint at Phulbagan Police Station to this effect. Notably, a similar allegation involving the laundering of approximately Rs 800 crore by a CA had recently surfaced at Karaya Police Station.
[The Statesmen]
