Search on secret flat yields rich haul for tax sleuths

Rajkot: Intelligence gathered on a group involved in the business of industrial salt manufacturing by income tax (IT) officials resulted in the discovery of bank locker keys and important documents related to investment in properties overseas from a secret 1BHK flat in Ahmedabad.
The income tax department last week conducted a search on the industrial salt and bromine manufacturing company with a unit in Maliya and offices in Jamnagar and Ahmedabad. The company's annual turnover is Rs 200 crore and it was the first time a search was carried out on the company. The promoters are based in Jamnagar.
"We gathered intelligence before the search and found that key persons of the company frequently visited a 1BHK flat in the Ghatlodia area of Ahmedabad. We learned from sources that key documents were hidden there, and we covered this flat in our search," a senior officer of the income tax department told TOI.
According to sources, gathering intel involved tracking the movements and of key persons for a significant period. IT sleuths found keys to two key bank lockers from where a large amount of bullion was found, along with ownership papers for a house bought by the promoter of this group in the UAE. The value of this property is around Rs 20 crore and officials are investigating the money trail.
Officials found more than 16 bank lockers, but only two were important, where the bullion was found. The other lockers belonged to employees and contained personal material not of interest to the IT department. "We found the keys to these two lockers at the 1BHK flat. From these two lockers, we recovered bullion worth Rs 1.86 crore and jewellery worth Rs 25 lakh," said an IT officer.
According to IT department sources, the modus operandi of evading the tax was to create bogus companies. This group created over a dozen bogus companies. They would give contracts and subcontracts to these companies on paper, make payments through cheques and withdraw cash from these bogus companies' accounts.
Officials uncovered illicit transactions worth Rs 150 crore from company documents and Rs 4 crore in unexplained cash, bullion and jewellery worth Rs 2.2 crore, and the papers for a house in the UAE, which is under investigation.