I-T Department Raids Maharashtra-Based Unicorn, Detects Rs 224 Crore Undisclosed Income

The CBDT said it was found that the group obtained huge foreign funding via the Mauritius route by issuing shares at an “exorbitantly” high premium.

(Representative Image/Getty)

New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Sunday said the Income Tax department has detected undisclosed income of about Rs 224 crore after recently raiding a unicorn start-up group based in Maharashtra’s Pune and Thane.

The CBDT said it was found that the group has booked bogus purchases, made huge unaccounted cash expenditure and obtained accommodation entries to the tune of over Rs 400 crore, PTI reported.

The CBDT said it was found that the group obtained huge foreign funding via the Mauritius route by issuing shares at an “exorbitantly” high premium.

“These evidences were confronted to the directors of the group, who admitted under oath this modus operandi, disclosed additional income of more than Rs 224 crore in various assessment years, and consequently offered to pay their due tax liability,” the CBDT said in a statement, the news agency reported.

The CBDT, which is the policy-making body for the tax department, said a “complex” hawala network of some Mumbai and Thane-based shell companies, was also unearthed.

“These shell companies exist on paper and were created only for the purpose of providing accommodation (bogus) entries. Preliminary analysis has revealed that the total quantum of accommodation entries provided by these shell entities exceeds Rs 1,500 crore,” the CBDT added.

The Union Finance Ministry too confirmed the same stating the group has Pan-India presence having an annual turnover exceeding Rs. 6,000 crore.

The ministry said that a total of 23 premises were covered in the search operation in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Finance Ministry said a large number of incriminating evidences in the form of hard copy documents and digital data have been found and seized during the search operations.

“These evidences revealed that the group has booked bogus purchases, made huge unaccounted cash expenditure and obtained accommodation entries, aggregating to the tune of over Rs. 400 crore,” the Finance Ministry said in a release.

The Finance Ministry said unaccounted cash of Rs. 1 crore and jewellery of the value of Rs. 22 lakh have so far been seized.

“Further investigations are under progress,” the ministry added.