220 kg of gold, cash seized during Day 3 of I-T raids

HYDERABAD: For the third consecutive day, Income Tax (I-T) officials carried out searches at the residences of Vamsiram Builders and Developers Managing Director B Subba Reddy and his relatives on Thursday. Sources said that officials seized about 220 kg of gold and a large amount of cash from the lockers in the eight locations spread across the city. The teams also reportedly recovered several land documents from the residence of Janardhan Reddy, son-in-law of Subba Reddy.

Sources said 22 account books, which supposedly contain the details of hidden cash and transactions related to construction projects, were also seized. The sleuths also found details of transactions in hotels and firms, which were started in the last four years, sources said, adding that officials seized agreement documents, which contained details of sleeping partners who invested money in the Vamsiram Group, but weren’t mentioned in the audit report. I-T officials also tried to recover the mails and messages alleged to be related to suspicious transactions, sources said.

I-T officers from K’taka, AP roped in

During the search, they focused on the financial transactions carried out by Jyothi, Subba Reddy’s wife, who is a director in 23 companies. They detected several transactions linked to Subba Reddy’s firms and the accounts of those who are not directors in the group of companies. Sources said that the transactions point to the diversion of funds or for making investments. I-T officials also recovered an account book containing details of donations made to different political parties, sources said.

They reportedly found that donations had been made to prominent leaders from both Telugu states. Sources said that assessment teams began weighing gold, assessing the value of lands and that of the other properties which are not covered in the annual returns.

There is a shortage of staff, which is causing the raids longer to carry out, sources added. Several officers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have arrived to aid the searches. Officials are expected to continue the searches on Friday as well.