A search and seizure operation carried out by the Income Tax Department last week on a group of companies linked to a Dubai-based finance firm has revealed black money to the tune of 100 million US Dollars ( about Rs 750 crore) parked in bank accounts in Switzerland, UAE, Malaysia and some other countries.
According to information provided by the Income Tax Department, as many as 37 premises spread across Mumbai, Pune, Noida and Bangalore were raided. These groups/individuals were in varied businesses such as cable manufacturing, real estate, textile, printing machineries, hotels and logistics.
These groups/individuals utilized the services of a Dubai based financial service provider to create a dubious and complex web of foreign companies and trusts based in tax havens such as Mauritius, UAE, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar etc. to hold their unaccounted assets.
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Evidence gathered during the search operation reveal that the undisclosed funds parked abroad have been used by these groups for acquiring immovable properties in several countries such as UK, Portugal and UAE in the name of defunct companies incorporated abroad. The funds were layered through foreign bank accounts, for meeting the personal expenses of the promoters and their family members abroad and routing back funds in their Indian entities.
During the course of the search operation, several incriminating documents, loose sheets, diaries, emails and other digital evidence has been unearthed which indicates ownership of a large number of foreign bank accounts and immovable properties, unreported to the Department.
Evidence related to bogus payments to suppliers for generating cash, unaccounted cash expenditure, hawala transactions, over-invoicing have also been gathered. Unaccounted cash and jewellery to the tune of over Rs. 2 crore has been seized from the residential and business premises. More than 50 bank lockers have been kept under restraint.
Further investigations are in progress, the Income Tax Department said.
