I-T dept detects Rs 224 cr black income after raids on Maharashtra-based start-up group

The Income Tax department has detected undisclosed income of about Rs 224 crore after it recently raided a unicorn start-up group based in Pune and Thane in Maharashtra, the CBDT said on Sunday. The searches were carried out on March 9 at 23 premises in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The group is engaged in wholesale and retail of construction materials and has a pan-India presence with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 6,000 crore, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the policy-making body for the tax department, said in a statement. Unaccounted cash worth Rs 1 crore and jewellery worth Rs 22 lakh have been seized till now, it said.

The statement said it was found 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. "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 claimed.

It was found that the group obtained huge foreign funding via the Mauritius route, by issuing shares at an "exorbitantly" high premium. A "complex" hawala network of some Mumbai and Thane-based shell companies, was also unearthed, the CBDT said.

"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," it said.