UP Businessman Piyush Jain Arrested After Recovery Of Over Rs 200 Crore In Tax Raids

By Sunday morning the agency had recovered a total of Rs of 187.45 crore, ANI reported.

Cash retrieved by Income Tax officials from UP businessman Piyush Jain's residence during a raid, in Kanpur. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Perfume businessman Piyush Jain, promotor of Odochem Industries, has been arrested on Sunday on charges of tax evasion. As per inputs, the total recovery made in the searches reached nearly Rs 257 crores.

The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Ahmedabad has been conducting raids at the factory and residence of the perfume businessman.

Earlier today, official sources told ANI that the total cash allegedly recovered from Jain reached Rs 187.45 crore by Sunday morning. The cash recovered during the search has been seized under the provisions of Section 67 of the CGST Act.

According to the sources, a joint team of DGGI and Local Central GST recovered Rs 5 crores from Jain's factory in Kannauj. Another Rs 5 crore was recovered from the residence of Jain in Kannauj.

After Kanpur, the team had taken Jain to his factory and residence in Kannauj which resulted in a cash recovery of Rs 10 crore.

DGGI recovered unaccounted raw material and finished product worth crores, another source supervising the search told ANI. The recoveries included unaccounted sandalwood oil, perfumes worth crores.

Previously, the officials had told the news agency that Piyush Jain was giving unconvincing explanations about the cash recovery.

He had claimed that this "cash belongs to his relatives and brothers." He took names of some of his relatives and brothers, but when investigating officers questioned the relatives whose names were taken, they denied Jain's claims, reported ANI.

Officials said that no one from Jain's relatives came forward to accept his claim. Jain's brothers have also denied the claim of Piyush Jain.

Officials have been trying to get the details of huge cash recovered from the promoter of Odochem Industries.

"We want to know the source of such huge cash. Why such a huge amount of cash was collected, where was this cash supposed to be used, from where this cash came. Was the 143, Anandpuri, Kanpur, where Rs 177.45 crore cash was recovered a collection centre of Perfume sale or it was used for some other purpose. The investigation will be on until it reaches its logical conclusion," an official said.

This is the biggest cash seizure in the history of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, the apex body of the investigation agency Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) which conducted the search, ANI reported.

(With Agency Inputs)