Ahmedabad: After the income tax department filed four complaints of alleged bogus political donations, Gujarat CID-Crime’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has decided to seek the expertise of a chartered accountant to trace the trail and unravel the layers.The complaints allege that registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) were used to generate bogus donation receipts, facilitate tax deductions and return most of the money to donors in cash after deducting commission.CID Crime EOW S P Rohan Anand said, “Over the past three days, four offences have been registered by Gujarat CID based on complaints from the income tax department. Around 2022-23, I-T officials conducted raids at several locations after prima facie finding that some people had registered unrecognised political parties and were collecting funds and donations from individuals, allowing the donors to claim I-T rebate.”He further said that these parties were allegedly not carrying out any political activities, and the money collected was returned to the donors through illegal channels. “In these four complaints, a prima facie loss of approximately Rs 680 crore to the govt exchequer has been detected,” he said in a video message.Anand said CID will examine evidence including cash-return slips, donation receipts and payment records as part of the investigation. He further said that in order to investigate the case, EOW will seek assistance from a chartered accountant.Among the complaints filed by the I-T department is an alleged Rs 415-crore donation racket involving Satyavadi Rakshak Party. The department had also flagged bogus donation networks involving transactions of more than Rs 725 crore linked to Garib Kalyan Party and Swatantrata Abhivyakti Party, both described in the complaints as RUPPs.
