Income Tax department searches in Surat find unaccounted business transactions worth Rs 700 cr by 2 real estate companies
The Directorate of Investigations of the income tax (I-T) department in Surat, in searches carried out on the premises of two real estate firms, has unearthed unaccounted business transactions worth Rs 700 crore.
Taking help of the CCTV camera network of the police, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) as well as private properties, I-T officers went through the footage of around 250 surveillance cameras to track documents allegedly shifted by the employees of one of the companies from one place to another, officers said.
The matter came to light when the DI was investigating a real estate firm’s alleged involvement in selling buildings but not entering them in its account books to evade taxes. During a search of the firm’s premises, the DI found that the group has made business dealings with another real estate company.
Between December 8 and 13, DI Additional Director Vibhor Badoni and Assistant Director Devn Keshwala, along with their teams of over 60 staffers, searched the premises of the two companies in 25 areas of Surat.
The DI said that during the searches, the officers found that one of the firms had “hidden several business-related documents” — which were not reflected in its accounts — in the houses of their lower-rung employees.
The DI said that during the searches, the officers found that one of the firms had “hidden several business-related documents” — which were not reflected in its accounts — in the houses of their lower-rung employees.
By the time the searches ended on Wednesday night, the DI had found both companies not disclosing business transactions worth Rs 700 crore. The officers also seized cash and jewellery worth Rs 10 crore from the companies. Over 15 bank lockers belonging to these firms have been sealed, they said.
An officer involved in the search operations said, “We found the statements of an employees of one of the companies unsatisfactory and checked the CCTV camera footage of his apartment… we found him leaving with bags full of documents on his bike. We took help from the police and SMC to track the employee and found that he had hidden the documents in the house of another person.”
“When our teams reached the house, it was too late and the documents had been shifted to some other place… We again checked CCTV camera footage to track the movement of documents… We found the employee shifted the documents to five flats at five locations… before finally managing to trace the documents,”