CBI books IRS officer for demanding bribe from Chinese company

An Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly trying to bribe a Chinese company for Rs 30 lakh in a case involving GST evasion.

Hemant Kumar IRS, Superintendent, CGST Bhiwandi Commissionerate in Parel demanded Rs. 30 lakh and, following negotiations, agreed to accept Rs. 15 lakh as an undue advantage from Kundan Jha on behalf of Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt. Ltd. (based in Guanzhou, People’s Republic of China) for concluding the GST investigation being conducted by him against Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt. Ltd.

According to the complaint, Hemant Kumar, Superintendent, called Kundan Jha on July 26 in relation to the investigation into the company’s GST invasion case and asked him about his role at Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt. Ltd. while he was working there as well as the company’s business profile.
According to the complaint, Kundan Jha called Mayur Magar, a Custom House Agent (CHA), who he knew from his time working as a clearance agent for Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt. Ltd., three to four days later. He assured Hemant that he could resolve the investigation’s issues during the call, and he instructed Mayur to ask any accountable employee of the organization to contact him for resolution.

According to the allegation, Hemant Kumar started calling Kundan Jha on WhatsApp and incessantly requested to meet somewhere other than his workplace. They finally got together on August 15 at a restaurant close to Wadala Railway Station. Hemant Kumar proposed to resolve the issue during the meeting in exchange for Rs 30 lakhs in bribe. The following day, Kundan got in touch with the top management and told them everything Hemant Kumar had told him. However, the management of Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt. Ltd. told him to handle the situation legally by reporting the demand for bribe to the relevant anti-corruption agency as they had no interest in paying any bribe.

The complainant has given a recording of a telephone conversation between himself, Kundan Jha, and Hemant Kumar, Superintendent, CGST, Bhiwandi, which was made using a digital voice recorder and stored on a micro SD Card.
The complaint’s verification revealed Hemant’s demand for an unjust benefit of Rs 30 lakhs, and it was ultimately resolved for Rs 15 lakhs to resolve the situation with M/s Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt. Ltd.

Hemant Kumar, Superintendent, CGST, Bhiwandi, had agreed during the conversation to resolve the bribe matter for Rs 15 lakhs and to accept Rs 5 lakh in advance for the task that Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt. Ltd. was still working on.

Catch all the Latest Business News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on NewsX)