IT sleuths unearth Rs 169 Cr from two Realtors

27 December, Bengalauru

The investigation wing of the Income-tax Department conducted raids on two groups of Real Estate Developers and Mall owners in the city and unearthed undisclosed income to the tune of Rs 169 crore.

The search, which began on December 23, continued till last night, according to a statement here.

In the first of the case, it was found that the group has indulged in providing and receiving accommodation entries to reducethe taxable income. They were also found to be in receipt of money in respect of the property transactions. The disclosure inthis cases stands at Rs 143 Crore, the statement said.

In the second group, where the assessees are found to have hitherto not disclosed income to the extent of Rs 26 Crore, it was found that the assessees had not accounted for the sales component received in cash, had disguised the personal expenses as business expenses etc. It was also found that they had made unaccounted investments in Gold and jewellery.

In another case, where the Investigation wing had conducted searches in December 2015, prosecution proceedings u/s 276C(2) and 277 of the Income-tax Act have been launched by the Income-tax Department by filing complaints in the JMFC court at Raichur, on charges of willful attempt to evade tax and interest and for making false statements. If found correct, the charges framed attract imprisonment up to 7 years, in addition to levy of fine. The JMFC court, Raichur has fixed the hearing of the case on January 5, 2017.

In the said case, during the search & seizure operations conducted under section 132 of the IT Act, the IT Department has seized approximately Rs 20 Crore in cash along with incriminating documents. Unaccounted income of more than Rs 500 crore was unearthed in the said group cases.

In the meanwhile, the assessee has filed an anticipatory bail application before the Principal District Court, Raichur last week,and is likely to be taken up for hearing this week