The Income Tax Department has unearthed black money to the tune of Rs 650 crore in a raid on a prominent real estate group of Surat engaged in the construction of residential and commercial complexes, land transactions as well as real estate financing, according to information provided by the finance ministry today.
The search and seizure operation, carried out on December 3, covered more than 40 premises of the company spread across Surat and Mumbai.
A preliminary analysis of the evidence seized in the raid, indicates unaccounted cash receipt of on-money of more than Rs. 300 crore on the sale of flats and plots of land which is not found recorded in the regular books of account. Evidence of unaccounted cash infusion by partners, bogus accommodation entry loans by payment of cash and unexplained cash expenses have also been detected, the official statement said.
A deeper examination of the physical books of account has revealed unexplained investments of more than Rs. 200 crore in real estate and more than Rs. 100 crore by way of loan financing.
The search action has led to the seizure of unexplained cash of Rs. 4 crore and jewellery valued at Rs 3 crore while more than a dozenSur bank lockers have been sealed, according to the finance ministry statement.
During the course of the search action, various incriminating documentary and digital evidence has been seized including a parallel set of books of account in the case of group entities. The transactions of certain group entities have been found to be maintained in a highly coded manner but were successfully decoded by the search team.
Further investigations are still in progress and the amount of unaccounted money concealed by the company could go up.
