I-T department discovers black money – Rs 400 cr after raids in Tamil Nadu

The Income Tax department stumbled upon an undisclosed amount of Rs 400 crore, believed to be black money, after it raided some entities in Tamil Nadu. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in a statement, confirmed that the raids were carried out on March 11 at 20 locations in Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Theni and Virudhunagar.

Also seized was an unaccounted cash of Rs 50 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 3 crore and nine luxury vehicles worth Rs 12.5 crore after the searches on a group of individuals who are involved in handling huge amount of cash and routing unaccounted money through foreign entities and bank accounts of their related concerns.

The CBDT claimed that the evidence found in the searched premises revealed that cash deposits of more than Rs 100 crore were made through various entities in the guise of sale and purchase of agricultural commodities, whereas no such activity exists and no stock was found. “The sale and purchase invoices were found to be fabricated by their employees,” it said. “Sales and stock were circulated among group entities to manipulate the turnover to obtain bank loans. Many of these entities had not filed any tax return so far. While Rs 150 crore was received by a group entity through a  debenture issue from a foreign entity, the evidences found during the search revealed that this was a sham transaction and all the money went to the personal accounts of these individuals.”

Money was siphoned-off from India, as per CBDT, and diverted to their personal accounts in other countries. It stated that during the search, evidence was also found which showed that numerous immovable properties have been purchased in the last three to four years in the prime locations of Chennai and other towns of Tamil Nadu at a value even lesser than circle rates.

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“More than 25 luxury cars were found during the search, and many were unaccounted. Evidence has also been found of the existence of undisclosed foreign bank accounts, foreign credit cards and investments in foreign entities,” it said.