IT raids Indore to catch crores of tax evaders

New Delhi: The Income-tax department last week nabbed crores of tax evaders in a raid on two Indore-based industrial conglomerates linked to mining, media and cable TV services and coaching, the CBDT said.

Two unidentified groups were raided there on November 8. More than 70 complexes in six states, including Madhya Pradesh, were raided by the two groups.

Digital evidence, including a parallel set of financial records of some businesses, was seized. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has claimed that a preliminary analysis of the evidence shows that various types of tax evasion have been committed. Sales of the mining business in particular have also been shown to be low. Similarly, tax evasion has been found on a large scale in the cable TV business, he said.

The statement claimed that other irregularities included cash payments, suspicious anonymous transactions, unaccounted expenses in cash, undisclosed investments in temporary assets and others.

The CBDT says the group has made entries of Rs 40 crore to various shell companies in the form of bogus unsecured loans. All this was managed by entry operators. During the investigation, the shell companies, their dummy directors were identified and arrested. They admitted that the companies are only on paper and they work on behalf of the main entry operator. In addition, the documents seized from the coaching group did not show the amount of cash received from the students in excess of Rs 2 crore.