Pune: Economic offences wing of Pune police on Sunday registered an FIR against two chartered accountants (CAs) operating from Katraj-Kondhwa Road for allegedly issuing fake Form 15CB certificates to enable overseas remittances of Rs 4,427.92 crore through three suspected shell entities over the past four financial years, causing a substantial loss of tax revenue to govt.The action comes less than a month after the arrest of a CA from Udgir in Latur district on Aug 23 on charge of issuing 1,810 Form 15CB certificates without conducting mandatory verification, allegedly enabling outward remittances exceeding Rs 2,143 crore through suspected shell firms.Form 15CB certificates are mandatory for certain overseas remittances and submitted to authorised dealers, including banks. As per regulations, a CA is required to examine agreements, books of account and other relevant records of both the remitter and beneficiary before certifying the nature of the remittance and the applicable tax deduction.In the latest case, the FIR was initially registered with Yevalewadi police station after a complaint from the income tax (I-T) department, which was immediately transferred to Pune police’s EOW. Deputy commissioner of police (EOW) Vivek Masal told TOI, “The I-T department is continuing its probe into the CA firms run by the accused. According to investigators, the funds were remitted overseas during financial years 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.”The FIR alleged that the two CAs, in collusion with others, prepared and certified documents for foreign remittances without verifying supporting records of shell or bogus firms. “They issued fake Form 15CB certificates, which are mandatory for certain overseas remittances, and submitting Form 15CA declarations on the I-T portal despite lacking the authority to do so,” the FIR stated.Form 15CA (renamed Form 145 as of April 2026) is a self-declaration form one must file with the I-T department before sending money from India to a foreign country. Banks and authorised dealers use this form to verify if a person or entity has cleared or accounted for any applicable income taxes before processing the transfer abroad.Investigators said the forged certificates were used to portray the transactions as legitimate, enabling three firms to remit a total of Rs 4,427.92 crore abroad. “The fraudulent documentation resulted in substantial loss of tax revenue to the exchequer and amounted to cheating govt,” the FIR stated.DCP Masal said EOW was yet to trace the shell firms named in the complaint. “A preliminary review of the FIR indicates that fake and misleading documents were allegedly created to move funds out of India and avoid tax liabilities,” he said.EOW is now examining the trail of funds, the role of intermediary entities and potential links between the accused accountants and the suspected shell firms.
