Panaji: Officials from the income tax (I-T) department in New Delhi Tuesday conducted search and seizure operations in Goa against individuals involved in a fake billing racket.
The raids, which were conducted in the state on Monday and Tuesday, were a part of nationwide operations covering Delhi (National Capital Region), Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand, said sources in the investigative wing of the Panaji income tax office.
The I-T sleuths have detected a large network of individuals making fraudulent entries and generating huge cash through fake billing. The search operations so far have been conducted at 42 premises across the five states.
According to the I-T officials, the search led to seizure of evidences, exposing the entire network of entry operators, intermediaries, cash handlers, beneficiaries and the companies involved. So far, documentary evidence of accommodation entries valued at more than Rs 500 crore has been found.
Several shell companies were used by the entry operators for layering of unaccounted money and cash withdrawals against issue of fake bills and unsecured loans. The personal staff and employees of the shell companies have been made dummy directors and all bank accounts were managed and controlled by these entry operators. Statements of such entry operators, their dummy partners/employees, the cash handlers as well as the covered beneficiaries have also been recorded clearly, validating the entire money trail.
The searched persons were also found to be controllers and beneficial owners of several bank accounts and lockers, opened in names of their family members, trusted employees and shell entities, which they were managing in collusion with bank officials through digital media. The same are being further investigated, said an official release.
The beneficiaries have been found to have made huge investments in real estate properties in prime cities and fixed deposits to the tune of several hundreds of crores.
During the countrywide search operations, cash of Rs 2.37 crore and jewellery worth Rs 2.89 crore have been found along with 17 bank lockers, which are yet to be operated.
PTI ADDS FROM NEW DELHI: The income tax department has recovered cash and jewellery worth around Rs 5.26 crore after it carried out multi-city raids against hawala operators and individuals, who prepare fake bills, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Tuesday.
The searches were carried out on Monday at 42 premises in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, it said.
The action was carried out against “a large network of individuals running the racket of entry operation (hawala-like operation) and generation of huge cash through fake billing,” officials said.
During the raids, Rs 2.37 crore cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.89 crore has been found along with 17 bank lockers which are yet to be searched, the CBDT said in a statement. The CBDT is the administrative authority for the I-T department.
“The search has led to seizure of evidences exposing the entire network of the entry operators, intermediaries, cash handlers, the beneficiaries and the firms and companies involved.
“So far, documents evidencing accommodation entries (hawala) of more than Rs 500 crore have already been found and seized,” it said.
