The Thane Police in Maharashtra have arrested a man for allegedly cheating a retired police official of Rs 7.40 lakh by posing as a chartered accountant (CA) over a period of five years, police said, reported the PTI.

The accused has been identified as Dharmendra Thakkar (51), while the victim is a retired 71-year-old cop, an official said.

The victim resides in Kalwa locality of Thane district, the official said on Friday, adding that the crime took place between May 2018 and July 2023.

“Under the pretext of filing the complainant`s income tax returns, the accused collected an additional amount of Rs 7,40,426 from him. He allegedly misled the victim by pretending to be a CA and produced an identity card bearing the name and photograph of his wife, claiming to be a senior officer in the Income Tax Department. The accused reportedly used this ID card from time to time to gain trust,” the official of Kalwa police station said, according to the PTI.

The official further said, “He used a four-wheeler registered in someone else`s name and displayed on it the Indian national emblem with `Government of India, Income Tax Department` written on it to mislead the complainant and others”, as per the PTI.

“The accused, with the help of one witness, created an email ID of the complainant without the latter`s permission. He retained its password, filed income tax returns in the complainant`s name without consent, and used the email account for unlawful activities without offering any compensation to the witness whose identity was misused,” the officer said, the news agency reported.

When the victim came to know about the irregularities in tax filing, he questioned the latter about it. However, the accused threatened him. He told the complainant that he himself provided to the victim false information to the Income Tax Department by evading taxes, he added.

A case has been registered and a probe was underway, the official said.

Meanwhile, in an another incident, a tax consultant from Navi Mumbai was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.35 crore by four persons who assured to arrange a loan for him for a construction project, police said on Friday, as per the PTI.

Based on a complaint, the Thane police have registered a case against four persons under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code for the offence that took place over a period of seven years, an official said.

The 33-year-old complainant had purchased land in Nagla village, Vasai taluka in Palghar district in Maharashtra to set up his firm, and he was trying to arrange a loan for this through a company in January 2019, the news agency reported.

(with PTI inputs)

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