Jharkhand I-T dept raids unearth Rs 2 cr in cash, Rs 100 cr unaccounted investments/transactions

In a search and seizure operation carried out on business premises. Belonging to large business groups in Jharkhand.

The Income Tax Department discovered black money transactions. Which is worth more than Rs 100 crore.

During the search, undisclosed cash exceeding Rs 2 crore has also been seized.

 A total of 16 bank lockers have been put under restraint.

A search and seizure action was carried out by the Income Tax Department on a few business groups engaged in coal trading, execution of civil contracts, extraction of iron ore, and production of sponge iron on Nov 4, according to a statement issued by the Income Tax Department today.

The other cities in which the tax raids were carried out were Godda, Bermo, Dumka, Chaibasa, and Patna.  Gurugram, and Kolkata.

Those searched include “two politically exposed persons and their associates” and a total of 50 premises were covered in the tax raid, the official statement said.

A large number of incriminating documents and digital evidence were seized as a result of the search operation.

 A preliminary examination of the evidence indicates that these groups have used various methods of tax evasion, such as inflation of expenses, cash transactions for loans, cash payments/receipts, and suppression of production. 

During the investigation, it was discovered that investments in immovable properties had been made, the source of which could not be fully explained.

The search operation also revealed that one of the groups engaged in civil contracts was not maintaining regular books of account.

The group has been inflating its expenses by entering into non-genuine transactions of purchase of raw material/ sub-contract expenses in lumpsum at the fag end of the year.

Evidence seized also suggests that unfair payments in cash have been made to secure contracts.

In the case of the other group involved in coal trading/iron ore extraction, etc., an unaccounted stock of iron ore of enormous value has been discovered, which has yet to be quantified. By layering transactions through shell companies, the group has also introduced unaccounted money in the form of unsecured loans and share capital. 

According to the Income Tax Department, professionals associated with this group admitted that they had not verified any supporting documents and had signed the audit report prepared by the group’s accountant without due diligence.

Further investigations are in progress the amount of unaccounted money could go up.