Fino Payments Bank’s CEO Rishi Gupta Arrested

In a major development, Fino Payments Bank’s chief executive officer (CEO) Rishi Gupta was arrested today over allegations of tax evasion. 

In a filing with the exchanges, the company said that Gupta was arrested under section 132(1)(a) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act and section 132(1) (i) of the state GST Act.

The former pertains to evasion of taxes due to supply of goods or services without issuing an invoice or issuing a false invoice. The latter relates to wrong Input Tax Credit (ITC) utilisation or wrongful refund exceeding ₹5 Cr. Both are punishable with imprisonment up to five years.

Meanwhile, the payments bank’s board convened a special meeting to appoint chief financial officer (CFO) Ketan Mehta as the interim head of the company to oversee day-to-day operations in the absence of Gupta.

“Investigation is relating to business partner(s) of the Bank and not relating to the GST compliance of the Bank. The Bank is co-operating with the authorities to provide all the necessary information,” said Fino Payments Bank in a filing with the exchanges. 

The payments bank informed the bourses that it is actively taking measures to address and overcome the “situation”. It also claimed that the arrest has no current impact on the bank. 

(This story will be updated soon)

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