The Income-Tax Department has seized about ₹94 crore in unaccounted cash and jewellery worth over ₹8 crore during searches against some government contractors, real estate developers, and their associates across four States.
Launched on October 12, the operation covered about 55 premises in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Delhi. The agency has not disclosed the identities of the assessees under its scanner.
Besides the cash and the gold/diamond jewellery, the IT Department has also seized about 30 luxury wrist watches of foreign make from the premises of a private salaried employee not engaged in the business of wrist watches.
Based on the incriminating evidence in the form of loose sheets, hard copies of documents, and digital data found during the searches, the agency has alleged tax evasion by the suspects.
The agency has accused the contractors of reducing their income on paper through inflation of expenses by booking bogus purchases, non-genuine claim of expenses with sub-contractors, and claiming ineligible expenses.
“The irregularities detected in the utilisation of contract receipts has resulted in generation of huge unaccounted cash and creation of undisclosed assets,” the I-T Department said in its statement on Monday.
The I-T Department said evidence indicating inflation of expenses in the form of discrepancies in the Goods Receipt Note validation had been unearthed. There were huge discrepancies in the documentation related to the purchases booked and actual physical transport of goods, prima facie showing bogus transactions with sub-contractors, some of whom were covered during the search.
The accused contractors were also involved in booking expenses for non-business purposes, as evidence of claim of liaison expenses have been found.
Large scale unaccounted cash transactions, which are not found recorded in the books of account, have also been found from the premises of assessees, sub-contractors, and associates, including certain cash handlers, it said.
