Chennai IT Raid: Rs 700 Crore Income Evasion Detected After Search On Premises Of Leading Business Group

The CBDT has informed that the I-T department has seized unaccounted cash of Rs 23 crores including foreign assets worth Rs 110 crore in the form of fixed deposits found during the search.

In a major breakthrough, the IT department has detected evasion of income to the tune of Rs 700 crore on Tuesday. As per the news agency ANI, the I-T department has seized an unaccounted cash of Rs 23 crore, including foreign assets worth Rs 110 crore in the form of fixed deposits found during the search operation.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has shared the details of the evasion of income after I-T Dept carried out search & seizure operations on 9th Dec. The department had raided premises of a leading business group operating from Chennai over alleged tax evasion.

There were searches in around 60 premises located in Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore and various places in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Mumbai, said CBDT. It said that the inflation of expenditure to take out cash and also to reduce profits, receipts not accounted fully, bogus claim of depreciation, etc amounting to Rs 435 crore were also identified.

"There are indications of capitation fee receipts for medical admissions to post-graduate programmes. During the search, details of the actual financial transaction between the searched group and another group for the sale of three infrastructure facilities at various ports were found," the statement said.

"Complex financial arrangements creating bogus liabilities from their own concerns were also seen to be made, ostensibly, to reduce the capital gains arising out of this transfer. Capital gains amounting to approximately Rs 280 crore have been arrived at. Similarly, huge capital introduction through a web of bogus inter corporate transactions within the group is also under the scanner," it added.

The CBDT, in the statement, said that a large number of lockers belonging to the group have been identified, which will be operated in due course. While the search is temporarily concluded, investigations are still in progress in the matter.

As per the news agency PTI, the raids were conducted at multiple locations of Chennai-based Chettinad group in connection with a tax evasion probe. The department also shared the details on its official Twitter handle saying the action was being undertaken against a "prominent business group of Chennai having varied business activities."

The department said over ₹ 7 crore "unaccounted" cash has been recovered from "a key person" till now and the raids were still on. The about 100-year-old Chettinad group has interests in several businesses like construction, cement, power and others.