CCB arrests 2 men for cheating bizman

CHENNAI: Two men were arrested by the Central Crime Branch on the charges of cheating Venkatesan (50) of Santhosh Nagar in Sriperumbudur, a businessman in the guise of writing off his huge GST fine and taking Rs 1 crore as a bribe from him. Police said that GST officials had raided Venkatesan’s office in 2021 and discovered Rs 4.75 crore in tax evasion in the financial years 2017-2018 and 2019-2020. They asked him to pay the amount along with the fine within the stipulated time. Venkatesan met Thanigaivel of Akhil Bharatha Kshatriya Maha Sabha through his auditor Mohan Babu. Thanigaivel promised to have his fines cancelled and allegedly collected Rs 1 crore as a bribe in various instalments. However, the victim later realised that he was cheated. Based on his complaint, the CCB registered a case and arrested Thanigaivel and Deepak Kothari (48) of Kilpauk. The police team seized a fake IT officer identity card from Kothari and further investigation is on.