Tax consultant held for embezzlement of Rs 90 lakh

A tax consultant working for a private firm was arrested for alleged embezzlement to the tune of Rs 90 lakh by forging challans of the service tax payment, a top officer said today.
"We arrested S Shivraman yesterday," said Mumbai Service Tax Commissioner Sushil Solanki.
Explaining Shivraman's modus operandi, another official said the accused, working for security services provider firm Unison Security Force since 2009, used to deposit only part of the service tax payment made by the firm to him.
The firm had paid service tax to the tune of Rs 1.8 crore since 2009 but Shivraman deposited only Rs 90 lakh with the department and pocketed the rest, the official said.

He said Shivraman used to forge tax payment challans to cover up the fraud.
Though Shivraman paid Rs 55 lakh to the department during investigation, a local court granted him bail on the condition of payment of balance amount within 15 days.