In the name of the newspaper, the Bhaskar group's Rs. 2,500 crore fraud

(PTI) New Delhi, Dt

The Income-tax department this week raided the premises of the Bhaskar group in more than nine cities and recovered Rs. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Saturday said it had received anonymous deals worth Rs 2,500 crore. He added that the Income Tax Department had on July 9 raided the Bhaskar group's offices and residential premises in nine cities, including Bhopal, Indore, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Noida. Further investigation is underway in this regard. Extensive documents found in the raid are being examined.

Media group opens anonymous companies in the name of employees and evades crores of taxes in six years, blatantly violating more than seven laws ranging from SEBI to income tax

The CBDT did not name the group in a statement released on Saturday, but official sources said the Bhaskar group was raided. Annually Rs. With a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore, the media group is spread across various sectors including media, power, textiles and real estate. The CBDT said that in nine cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bhopal, Indore and Noida, raids were carried out on 20 residential and 19 commercial establishments of the Bhaskar group.

The media group owns more than 100 companies, including holdings and subsidiaries, the CBDT said in a statement. During the investigation, it was found that the group used fake companies in the name of employees for various purposes including money laundering as well as to divert profits from listed companies, for money laundering. False expenditures were shown in the form of manpower, transport, logistics and civil works, and bogus deals. The use of this modus operandi has cost approximately Rs. 500 crore has been evaded. However, the rate of tax evasion may also increase, as the group has used multiple levels and a full investigation into the money laundering is underway.

The CDBT said that the Income-tax department was investigating various sections of the Companies Act in this case and breach of section 4 of the listing agreement proposed by SEBI for listed companies. The Anonymous Transaction Prohibition Act is also being investigated. The group's real estate company operates a mall and receives Rs. 3 crore loan has been sanctioned. Apart from this, Rs. 203 crore has been diverted to associates in the form of loans at low interest rates of one per cent. The real estate company has claimed interest expenses from its taxable profits while it has been diverted to the holding company's individual investments.

The listed media company also did 'barter deals' for public news revenue when real estate was acquired instead of actual payments. There is also evidence that a cash receipt has been found in connection with the sale of such assets, which is under investigation. The CBDT said it had also found "evidence" that cash had been transacted on the sale of flats by the group's realty unit during the raid. The matter has also been confirmed by two employees and a director of the company.

Modus operandi as well as related evidence has also been found. A certain amount of cash transactions is being investigated. Tax officials also found six lockers in the premises of promoters and key employees of the group. In addition, extensive documents were found during the raid, which is under investigation.

Employees unaware of companies being opened in their own name

The Bhaskar group operates some companies in the name of its employees, which are used to show 'false' expenses and to manipulate money. During the investigation, some of the employees named as shareholders and directors admitted that they had no information about such companies and gave their Aadhaar cards and digital signatures to the employer in confidence. The CBDT claimed that some relatives had intentionally signed the documents of the fictitious companies, but they had no control over the commercial activities of these companies and they had no information about it.