ED registers money laundering case against I-T officer

NEW DELHI: In fresh trouble for Income Tax department officer AshutoshVerma who was arrested in 2008 for allegedly diluting I-T appraisal of companies of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, the Enforcement Directorate has registered a criminal case of money laundering against him.

The agency is set to record the statement of Verma, who was last year promoted as a Joint Director in the department, and will soon attach properties of the officer, including a resort in Goa, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said.

The CBI had last year charge sheeted Verma after four- long years of investigations in the case for which Nanda's son Sanjeev and chartered accountant Bipin Shah are also accused.

Sources said Verma, a 1999-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, will be questioned about the acquisition of Goa based property by the name Nitya Resorts, worth Rs 4.4 crore, which the CBI alleges was received by the officer as part payment for showing illegal favours and diluting Nanda's I-T assessment case.

The statements of Nanda's and few other associates of Verma will also be included in the probe, the sources added.

Verma was arrested by CBI on March 9, 2008 from a five- star hotel in Mumbai alongwith Suresh Nanda, an accused in Naval War Room leak case, his son Sanjeev and Shah.

CBI had said they were arrested from the hotel while they were allegedly discussing dilution of I-T appraisal report of Nanda's company to evade tax liabilities.

In its charge sheet filed in November last year, CBI had alleged that the I-T officer had abused his official position and "deleted and diluted" the Income Tax appraisal report prepared by him to minimise the tax liabilities of Nanda's companies for obtaining pecuniary advantages.