The Income Tax Department carried out a search operation that commenced on 23.09.2021 on a big syndicate involving certain businessmen/middlemen of Maharashtra and some persons holding public offices. The intelligence was developed over 6 months. In all, 25 residential and 15 office premises were covered under the search, while 4 offices were covered under survey. Some suites in Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai, permanently rented by two of the middlemen and used for meeting their clients, were also subjected to search. The syndicate, consisting of businessmen/middlemen/associates and persons holding public offices, used various code names in their records and in one case had back-dated records by 10 years. The total transactions detected during this search are to the tune of Rs. 1050 crore.

These middle men provided end-to-end services to corporates and entrepreneurs from land allotment to obtaining all governmental clearances. Despite using encrypted modes of communication and sanitising devices, the Income Tax teams were able to recover critical digital evidence and also located a secret hideout from where various incriminating evidences were recovered. The liaisoners also used ‘angadiyas’ for transfer of cash and Rs.150 lakh was seized from one of the angadiyas during the search.

The documents recovered include a summary of overall cash generated and disbursed giving the particulars of the amounts received and receivable, each being more than Rs. 200 crore. Key areas of generation of this money have been found to be cash paid by bureaucrats for getting key postings under a certain Ministry, cash paid by the contractors for getting payments released etc. Major amount of cash collected had been distributed to various persons, including someone who is mentioned under a code name.

Furthermore, one of the businessmen/middlemen had also amassed huge unaccounted income by purchasing lands from farmers and transferring the same to Government undertakings/big corporates. Many senior bureaucrats/their relatives and other prominent people have been found to have invested in these schemes.

During the search, evidence unearthed at the office premises includes date-wise transactions for a certain period of cash deposits of around Rs. 27 crore and cash payments of around Rs. 40 crore. Further, evidences have been found of cash payments to the tune of Rs. 23 crore made to various persons, whose names are prefixed with various code words. The said middle man receives payments from various businessmen and industrialists for getting lands under the schemes of Government undertakings, extension of tenders/mining contracts, etc. Further, in a WhatsApp chat, particulars of cash transactions have been found showing receipts of cash of around Rs. 16 crore and outflow of around Rs. 12 crore.

Some of the persons searched have their own real estate and construction businesses, in respect of which evidences of cash receipts/payments have also been found.

Voluminous digital data has been recovered and seized from mobile phones, pen-drives, hard drives, iCloud, e-mails etc. which is being examined and analyzed.

So far, cash of more than Rs. 4.6 crore and jewellery valued at Rs. 3.42 crore have been seized. 4 lockers found during the search operation have been put under restraint orders.

Further investigations are in progress.

The Income Tax Department carried outa search and seizure operation on 30.09.2021 on 37 premises spread across multiple cities including Mumbai, Pune, Noida & Bangalore. These groups/individuals were in varied businesses such as cable manufacturing, real estate, textile, printing machineries, hotels, logistics etc.

During the course of the search operation, several incriminating documents, loose sheets, diaries, emails and other digital evidences etc. have been unearthed which indicates ownership of a large number of foreign bank accounts and immovable properties, unreported to the Department. 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, BVI, Gibraltar etc. to hold their unaccounted assets.

The credits in the bank accounts of these groups and individuals maintained by the Dubai based financial service provider exceed 100 Million US Dollars  ( about Rs. 750 crore) accumulated over a decade and were found to be parked in bank accounts  in Switzerland, UAE, Malaysia and several other countries. Evidences 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, UAE etc in the name of defunct companies incorporated abroad, with funds 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, 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 respectively. More than 50 bank lockers have been kept under restraint.

Further investigations are in progress.

The Income Tax Department carried out search & seizure operations on 28.09.2021 on a real estate developer group and the brokers connected with this group. Total of 22 residential and business premises were covered in the operation.

In the case of the real estate developer group, a large number of incriminating documents, loose papers, digital evidences etc. have been found and seized. These evidences contain detailed records of the group’s unaccounted transactions spread across multiple financial years. Documents showing unaccounted investment in land of more than Rs. 200 crore and unaccounted cash receipts from sale of land amounting to more than Rs. 100 crore have been found and seized so far. A large number of original documents of properties purchased over the years which are apparently held in the name of benami individuals have also been found.

​In the case of the broker, documents showing details of payments in cash and in cheques relating to transactions of purchase and sale of land carried out through the broker have been found. Documents showing cash transactions of more than Rs. 230 crore in these land deals have been found and seized so far.

The documents found reveal unaccounted income of more than Rs. 200 crore in the hands of the real estate group and also unaccounted income of more than Rs. 200 crore in the hands of the parties recorded  in the documents found from the possession of the brokers. Over all, the search & seizure operation has resulted in the detection of unaccounted transactions of more than Rs. 500 crore.

24 lockers have also been found during the course of the search and seizure operation which have been put under restraint. Cash of approximately Rs.1 crore and jewellery worth Rs. 98 lakh have been seized so far.

​The search and seizure operation is still continuing and further investigations are in progress.

****