Maharashtra: I-T searches at start-up group reveal Rs 224-crore black income

The Income Tax (I-T) Department had recently conducted a search and seizure operation on a Pune and Thane based unicorn start-up group, primarily engaged in the business of wholesale and retail of construction material.

The group has Pan-India presence having an annual turnover exceeding Rs 6,000 crore.

During the search operation, a complex hawala network of some Mumbai and Thane based shell companies was also unearthed by the I-T sleuths. These shell companies, the agency sources said, exist on paper, and were created only for the purpose of providing accommodation entries.

The term 'unicorn' is given only to the startup companies that have a valuation of over 1 billion USD.

According to the I-T officials, a total of 23 premises were covered in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, in the search operation which was carried out on March 09. "A large number of incriminating evidences in the form of hard copy documents and digital data have been found and seized during the search operations.

This evidence has revealed that the group has booked bogus purchases, made huge unaccounted cash expenditure and obtained accommodation entries, aggregating to the tune of over Rs 400 crore," the I-T officials claimed in a statement.

"These evidences were confronted to the Directors of the group, who admitted under oath this modus operandi, disclosed additional income of more than Rs 224 crore in various assessment years, and consequently offered to pay their due tax liability. The search action also revealed that the group had obtained huge foreign funding via the Mauritius route, by issuing shares at exorbitantly high premium. Preliminary analysis has revealed that the total quantum of accommodation entries provided by these shell entities exceeds Rs 1,500 crore. So far, unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore and jewellery of the value of Rs 22 lakh have been seized," the statement added.