New Delhi, Nov 8 The Income Tax Department on Tuesday said that they have unearthed unaccounted transactions/ investments exceeding Rs 100 crore during recent search and seizure action on a few business groups engaged in coal trading, transportation, execution of civil contracts, extraction of iron ore and production of sponge iron in Jharkhand.
The action was initiated on November 4. It said that searches included two politically exposed persons and their associates.
"During the search, undisclosed cash exceeding Rs 2 crore was seized. A total of 16 bank lockers have been put under restraint. So far, the searches have revealed unaccounted transactions/ investments exceeding Rs 100 crore," the I-T department said.
The searches were carried out at more than 50 premises spread over Ranchi, Godda, Bermo, Dumka, Jamshedpur and Chaibasa in Jharkhand; Patna; Gurugram (Haryana); and Kolkata.
The search operation has led to the seizure of a large number of incriminating documents and digital evidence.
A preliminary analysis of this evidence indicated that these groups have resorted to various modus-operandi of tax evasion, including inflation of expenses, transactions of loans in cash, payments in cash and suppression of production.
"During the search, it has also been found that investments have been made in immovable properties, 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," the I-T department said.
It said that evidence seized also suggests that unfair payments in cash have been made to secure contracts.
The I-T department said that in the case of the other group engaged in coal trading of iron ore, etc., unaccounted stock of iron ore of huge value has been found, which is yet to be quantified.
The said group has also introduced its unaccounted money in the form of unsecured loans and share capital by layering the transactions through shell companies. Professionals associated with this group have 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 in the matter were on.
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