New Delhi: In an income-tax raid on two real estate business groups of Mumbai, unaccounted income of Rs 184 crore has been unearthed in the searches that began on October 7. The evidence gathered during the search has revealed several prima facie unaccounted and benami transactions and incriminating documents.
Though the income-tax department did not disclose the identity of the groups or the individuals, the names of those related to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar have surfaced as the raids were also conducted in his hometown Baramati.
The searches were carried out at about 70 premises spread across Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Jaipur and Baramati. The department said suspicious flow of funds had taken place, with the involvement of “an influential family of Maharashtra”. The Pawars have been alleging vindictiveness since the day the raids began.
“The search action has led to identification of transactions by these business groups with a web of companies which, prima facie, appear to be suspicious. A preliminary analysis of the flow of funds indicates that there has been an introduction of unaccounted funds in the group by way of various dubious methods like introduction of bogus share premium, suspicious unsecured loans, receipt of unsubstantiated advance for certain services, collusive arbitration deals out of non-existent disputes, etc. It has been observed that such suspicious flow of funds has taken place with the involvement of an influential family of Maharashtra,” the agency claimed in a statement on Friday.
PAWAR’S KIN: The premises raided by the I-T department to unearth the black money are allegedly linked with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, a nephew of Sharad Pawar, and the owners of a prominent Marathi daily.
Both Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar have slammed the Modi government for hounding political opponents by misusing Central agencies like the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Narcotics Control Bureau, with a new pattern of ‘targeting relatives’ of politicians since most of their kin have been hit in income-tax raids.
The department said the funds so introduced in a dubious manner were found to have been utilised for acquisition of various assets worth Rs 170 crore, such as an office building at a prime location in Mumbai, a flat in posh locality of Delhi, a resort in Goa, agricultural lands in Maharashtra and investments in sugar mills.
Unaccounted cash of Rs. 2.13 crore and jewellery of Rs. 4.32 crore have been seized. Further investigations are in progress.
The investigations going on for over a week identified transactions of the two business groups with a web of companies, which prima facie appear to be suspicious.
(With inputs from Somendra Sharma)
