Kanpur-based perfume manufacturer Piyush Jain was arrested on Sunday night on charges of tax evasion with the hard cash seized from his premises going up to a whopping Rs 284 crore. Tax officials also recovered 25 kg of gold and 250 kg of silver from his premises.
The raids which had started on Friday had first unearthed Rs 150 crore. The amount of cash recovered during the search has now shot up by another Rs 134 crore. According to sources, bundles of Rs 2,000 notes have been recovered from cardboard boxes as well. A cash counting machine has also been found in the businessman’s house.
According to DGGI sources, the searches which started on Friday, unearthed Rs 177 crore from Jain’s Anandnagar house in Kanpur and Rs 107 crore unaccounted cash from his ancestral house in Kannauj. Tax officials had unearthed a cash mountain with bundles of currency notes stuffed in cupboards.
Jain was arrested for evasion of tax and making multiple invoices in the name of fake firms. The tax officials also found incriminating evidence comprising diaries and bills of black money transactions which has been seized as proof.
During the investigation, Jain claimed that Rs 284 crore in cash recovered from his houses was his money accumulated after selling 400 kg of gold that he had inherited from his ancestors.
He was unable to come up with satisfactory answers for the huge undeclared wealth in his possession.
Nine drums of sandalwood oil and unaccounted perfumes have also been seized.
“This is the biggest recovery in the history of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC),” said Vivek Johri, the Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
A team of tax officials, comprising units from Uttar Pradesh and Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) Ahmedabad and the Income Tax Department were involved in the search operations.
An underground cellar has also been found in Piyush’s Kannauj residence. The investigation team has also called in a team of architects and experts to trace out hidden lockers in the walls as the search is still in progress.
Also read: Income Tax officials find Rs 150 crore black cash mountain in raid on Kanpur perfume manufacturer
