I-T officials suppressed diary with details of dubious dealings in '11
, TNN|
Updated: Sep 25, 2017, 10.46 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Investigation by CBI and Enforcement Directorate into a scam involving three senior income tax officials who helped businessmen and others with political connections launder money and dodge taxes has thrown up yet another instance of alleged collusion by I-T officials.
An income tax team suppressed the recovery of a diary during a raid conducted on a businessman in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex back in 2011.
A senior I-T officer said the `entries' found in the diary in 2011 were corroborated through other documents seized during the raids and through the bank statements of the business group, but still the facts were ignored.The evidence was dropped and in a “criminal conspiracy“ not mentioned in the I-T department's appraisal report prepared later.
The diary allegedly had details of several suspicious transactions, some of which were traced to Nigeria, Dubai, British Virgin Islands and the US.
The I-T team which carried out the search did not question the businessman about the entries. Further, recovery of the diary was not mentioned in the report they prepared on the `raid'.“This was a violation of the procedure mandated for tax officials,“ a source in the CBIED team said.
The alleged sabotage remained undetected until the CBI-ED started their probe into what has turned out to be a Rs 1,000 crore scandal.
According to preliminary findings of the CBI and the ED, the diary has details of cash receipts and deposits in bank accounts of beneficiaries who allegedly include close relatives of politicians, top bureaucrats and some income tax officials.
An FIR registered by the agencies in the case on August 30 said, “The identity of the person who was maintaining the diary and from whose custody it was seized was not brought on record.
“Information further revealed that huge sums had been paid out which prima facie appear to be in the nature of gratification other than legal remuneration for the purpose of settling proceedings before the authorities.“
The CBI-ED investigation focuses on the alleged nexus of senior I-T officials and businessmen who, with the help of politicians, sought to `manage' the fallout of the payment of bribes mentioned in the diary .
The CBI and the ED have named three senior income tax officers of the level of commissioner and principal commissioner in its FIR and implicated some other `beneficiaries' in the case.
ED is investigating the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and has implicated one Gagan Dhawan, a Delhi-based businessman whose name appeared multiple times in the controversial visitors' diary of former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha when he was heading the probe agency .
ED conducted searches in August on at least 11 premises of the businessman and his associates who have been linked to the `diary' in question and who were searched by the I-T department in 2011.The raids were conducted across Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
An income tax team suppressed the recovery of a diary during a raid conducted on a businessman in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex back in 2011.
A senior I-T officer said the `entries' found in the diary in 2011 were corroborated through other documents seized during the raids and through the bank statements of the business group, but still the facts were ignored.The evidence was dropped and in a “criminal conspiracy“ not mentioned in the I-T department's appraisal report prepared later.
The diary allegedly had details of several suspicious transactions, some of which were traced to Nigeria, Dubai, British Virgin Islands and the US.
The I-T team which carried out the search did not question the businessman about the entries. Further, recovery of the diary was not mentioned in the report they prepared on the `raid'.“This was a violation of the procedure mandated for tax officials,“ a source in the CBIED team said.
The alleged sabotage remained undetected until the CBI-ED started their probe into what has turned out to be a Rs 1,000 crore scandal.
According to preliminary findings of the CBI and the ED, the diary has details of cash receipts and deposits in bank accounts of beneficiaries who allegedly include close relatives of politicians, top bureaucrats and some income tax officials.
An FIR registered by the agencies in the case on August 30 said, “The identity of the person who was maintaining the diary and from whose custody it was seized was not brought on record.
“Information further revealed that huge sums had been paid out which prima facie appear to be in the nature of gratification other than legal remuneration for the purpose of settling proceedings before the authorities.“
The CBI-ED investigation focuses on the alleged nexus of senior I-T officials and businessmen who, with the help of politicians, sought to `manage' the fallout of the payment of bribes mentioned in the diary .
The CBI and the ED have named three senior income tax officers of the level of commissioner and principal commissioner in its FIR and implicated some other `beneficiaries' in the case.
ED is investigating the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and has implicated one Gagan Dhawan, a Delhi-based businessman whose name appeared multiple times in the controversial visitors' diary of former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha when he was heading the probe agency .
ED conducted searches in August on at least 11 premises of the businessman and his associates who have been linked to the `diary' in question and who were searched by the I-T department in 2011.The raids were conducted across Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
(This article was originally published in The Times of India)
