Income Tax Officials Unearth Rs 450 Crore Of Undisclosed Income In Multi-City Raids Carried Out In A Single Day

In a major development, the Income-Tax (IT) Department of the Government unearthed more than Rs 450 crore of undisclosed income yesterday (29 November) as it carried out massive searches on an IT sector Special Economic Zone (SEZ) developer and a prominent stainless steel supplier based in Chennai, reports Times of India.

IT officials carried out raids in multiple cities involving 16 premises located in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Cuddalore, leading to the disclosure of the hidden vast sums of money.

The unearthed sums include unaccounted assets worth about Rs 100 crore accumulated by the ex-director of an IT SEZ and his family members over the span of the past three years.

The developer had claimed bogus work-in-progress expenses of about Rs 160 crore in an under-construction project. Bogus expenses claimed included capital expenses of Rs 30 crore through means of consultancy fees and dismissible interest expenses to the extent of Rs 20 crore.

Furthermore, IT officials also unearthed transactions to the tune of Rs 2,300 crore routed as an investment through Mauritius in 2017-18. The transactions involved the sale of shares of the SEZ by its erstwhile shareholders, a resident and a non-resident entity. The capital gains arising out of the transaction was never disclosed to the IT department.

Other than these, authorities are also examining other land transactions and an issue relating to Compulsory Convertible Debentures.