Two hackers who increased Bhatbhateni’s tax liability by Rs 68 million are arrested by CIB

Police have apprehended two employees of an audit company in Chitwan who, after breaking into the supermarket chain’s online tax account, raised the tax due for Bhatbhateni Supermarket (BBSM) by Rs 68 million.

Police officers sent from the District Police Office (DPO), Chitwan, arrested Santosh Parajuli, 28, of Bihadi Rural Municipality-3, Parbat, and Parin Pandey, 28, of Bhimsen Thapa Rural Municipality-4, Gorkha, on January 18 from the Bihadi Business Management office in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-3, Chitwan, for breaking into the supermarket’s account and altering the tax due for the business from Rs 62.6 million to Rs 130.9 million, according to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB). Three laptops, two cell phones, a router, and a CPU were also taken from the premises by the police.

When BBSM employees were unable to access the company’s Integrated Tax System (ITS) account on January 9, they were notified. On the same day, corporate representatives swiftly reported the issue to the Lazimpat office of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

They were shocked to learn that BBSM, which typically pays about Rs 60 million in taxes each month and has sales of about Rs 2 billion, was required to pay Rs 130 million in taxes for a single month.

The IRD discovered that BBSM was only required to pay Rs 62.6 million, despite reporting sales of Rs 2.34 billion for the month. After fixing the issue in the ITS, the department wrote to the CIB to request an inquiry because they suspected foul activity.

Republica was told by CIB Superintendent of Police (SP) spokesperson Sudhir Raj Shahi that the bureau opened an investigation into the issue the same day, determining the location of the company’s ITS account access on January 9.

He stated, “We found that the account was accessed via the computer of the Chitwan-based audit company Bihadi Business Management.”

The two have been charged with computer-related offenses by CIB under the Electronic Transaction Act 2063 BS.

The CIB’s initial examination failed to determine the audit firm’s intention to raise BBSM’s tax payables and identified no link between the audit business and the supermarket chain.

Since we have not discovered any connection between the audit firm and BBSM, we are trying to determine why they increased the tax payables. The hackers have stated that they gained access to BBSM’s tax account while entering random account information in the ITS, SP Shahi told Republica.

According to the results of an initial inquiry, Parajuli’s two other brothers, who share ownership of the audit company, are now evading capture, he continued. “We think that apprehending the other two suspects will help speed up the investigation process,” he stated.

According to SP Shahi, the preliminary inquiry also showed that the organization altered the tax payment by gaining access to a mobile phone importer’s tax account. “We are awaiting an official complaint from the mobile company so that we may start looking into the issue,” he stated.