A tea-seller from Patan, Khemraj Dave, was shocked to receive a notice from the income tax department demanding a penalty of Rs 49 crore for fraudulent transactions worth Rs 34 crore conducted using his account. It was revealed that two individuals, Alpesh Patel and Vipul Patel, whom Dave had been serving tea for almost a decade, had deceitfully used his personal information to carry out illegal activities.
In 2014, Dave sought assistance from Alpesh to acquire a PAN card and linked it to his bank account. However, Alpesh misused this opportunity and acquired Dave’s Aadhaar card, PAN card, and signatures under false pretenses. Nearly ten years later, Dave received multiple notices from the income tax department, which he initially couldn’t comprehend due to the language barrier.
With the help of an advocate, Dave discovered that the notices pertained to illicit transactions during the financial years of 2014-15 and 2015-16, which he was completely unaware of. Upon investigation, it was found that another unauthorized account had been activated in Dave’s name, which was being used by Alpesh and Vipul for their wrongful activities.
Consequently, a complaint was filed against Alpesh and Vipul, accusing them of breach of trust, cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and abetment. Despite the ongoing investigation, the two individuals are yet to be apprehended.