Mammoth I-T raid on two real estate groups reveals Rs 184 crore unaccounted income

New Delhi: In a mammoth raid on two real estate groups of Mumbai, the Income Tax Department unearthed unaccounted income to the tune of Rs 184 crore in form of benami transactions, cash and jewellery.

The agency conducted searches on October 7 at about 70 premises spread across Mumbai, Pune, Baramati, Goa and Jaipur in connection with the case.

The tax officials seized unaccounted cash of Rs 2.13 crore and jewellery of Rs 4.32 crore.

“The evidence gathered during the search has revealed several prima-facie unaccounted and benami transactions. Incriminating documents, evidencing unaccounted income of about Rs 184 crore of the two groups have been found,” said the I-T Department in a statement.

“A preliminary analysis of the flow of funds indicates that there has been an introduction of unaccounted funds in the group by way of various dubious methods like introduction of bogus share premium, suspicious unsecured loans, receipt of unsubstantiated advance for certain services, collusive arbitration deals out of non-existent disputes, etc,” it added.

The Department further said that the suspicious flow of funds has taken place with the “involvement of an influential family of Maharashtra”.

“The funds so introduced in a dubious manner, have been utilized for acquisition of various assets such as office building at a prime locality in Mumbai, flat in posh locality in Delhi, resort in Goa, agricultural lands in Maharashtra and investments in sugar mills. The book value of these assets aggregates to about Rs 170 crore,” the agency said.