The government's crackdown on black money continued with a series of raids all across the country on Wednesday. From Pune to Delhi, to Bengaluru to Panaji, raids conducted by the CBI, Income Tax, ED, and police officials, unearthed large sums of money all across the country.
In the national Capital, a raid carried out by the Crime Branch and the Income Tax department recovered over Rs 3.25 crores in old currency in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from a budget hotel in the Karol Bagh area of Delhi. Five people have been arrested in conjunction with this raid.
Officials said the accused had arrived in the Capital on Monday via a flight from Mumbai. They had received the cash from a Delhi-based hawala operator, identified as Vinod. The accused were supposed to then carry the black money back to Mumbai where it would be converted into white.
Investigators said the accused had taken great pains to conceal the money. The cash had been kept in different suitcases and a cardboard box. Specialists had then been hired to pack the notes so that the money could not be detected by the airport scanning machines. The money was also packed with special tapes and wires to cheat X-ray machines, police sources said.
In another raid, police entered the residence of one Sukhbir Shokeen. Shokeen works as a real estate agent and is the director of a company named Shokeen Real Estate. In his home, police officials found unaccounted for cash worth Rs 64,84,000 out of which Rs 11,34,000 was in denominations of Rs 2,000. Jewellery worth Rs 1,06,57,235 was also recovered from Shokeen's residence. Police officials say that raids are also being conducted at his office premises which is said to be located in Rangpuri in south west Delhi.
In Bengaluru, the IT department also seized Rs 2.93 crore in total with a large amount being recovered from a flat guarded by two ferocious dogs. IT officials told DNA that they had received a tipoff that an apartment in the Yeshwanthpur locality had some cash but they could not execute the search on Tuesday as the old lady living in the flat refused to cooperate with them.
Finally, IT officials, along with the help of the local police, entered the flat on Wednesday upon which they found a locked room. "The locked room was opened and unexplained cash to the tune of Rs 2.89 crore, which included Rs 2.25 crore of new Rs 2,000 notes, was found. The cash has been seized and further investigations are on," the IT department said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in Goa's capital Panaji, the IT department seized Rs 67.98 lakh in new notes of Rs 2,000 from a person who met the officials. Acting as decoy customers in desperate need of cash, the officials arrested the man and confiscated the cash "The seizure was made from a place called Banda on the Maharashtra-Goa border," an official said.
Post demonetization, the department's investigative wings of Karnataka and Goa have seized a total of Rs 29.86 crore, with Rs 20.22 crore in new notes, 41.6 kg bullion and 14 kg jewellery so far. Officials in the investigative departments of these two states said that they have detected unaccounted income worth Rs 1,000 crore in these two states, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. So far, 36 raid operations have been carried out in both states.
Other parts of India too saw raids with over Rs 2 crores, mostly in new notes, being seized in Chandigarh on Wednesday. And in a surprise incident, IT officials nabbed two men driving a two-wheeler which was carrying new notes worth up to Rs. 67 lakh, in Panaji. IT officials have now seized the cash, and are analysing the mobile phone data of the arrested men. The phone allegedly has details of those who are involved in money-laundering.
The large amount of illegal cash being unearthed through raids, carried out by officials in the past few weeks, shows the government's bid to unearth black money may be working. But officials continuously have to keep a sharp eye out as more and more innovative methods are being employed to smuggle out black money. In a recent instance, customs officials at the Delhi airport caught a couple returning from Bangkok, who were trying to smuggle 16 kg gold into the country. The gold had been placed in diapers.
CBDT Tightens Rules for Revised Returns
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has warned taxpayers against misusing provisions for filing revised tax returns by manipulating earlier years' figures of income, cash-in-hand, profits etc. with an intention to manipulate the current year's undisclosed income.
The CBDT stated that the provision to file revised returns of income u/s 139(5) of the Act has been stipulated for revising any omission or wrong statement made in the original return of income. It asserted that revision provisions cannot be used for resorting to making changes in the income initially declared so as to "drastically alter the form, substance and quantum of the earlier disclosed income."
Such manipulation in the amount of income, cash-in-hand, profits etc. and fudging of accounts may necessitate scrutiny of such cases and may also attract penalty/prosecution in appropriate cases as per provision of law.
DNA India News
In the national Capital, a raid carried out by the Crime Branch and the Income Tax department recovered over Rs 3.25 crores in old currency in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from a budget hotel in the Karol Bagh area of Delhi. Five people have been arrested in conjunction with this raid.
Officials said the accused had arrived in the Capital on Monday via a flight from Mumbai. They had received the cash from a Delhi-based hawala operator, identified as Vinod. The accused were supposed to then carry the black money back to Mumbai where it would be converted into white.
Investigators said the accused had taken great pains to conceal the money. The cash had been kept in different suitcases and a cardboard box. Specialists had then been hired to pack the notes so that the money could not be detected by the airport scanning machines. The money was also packed with special tapes and wires to cheat X-ray machines, police sources said.
In another raid, police entered the residence of one Sukhbir Shokeen. Shokeen works as a real estate agent and is the director of a company named Shokeen Real Estate. In his home, police officials found unaccounted for cash worth Rs 64,84,000 out of which Rs 11,34,000 was in denominations of Rs 2,000. Jewellery worth Rs 1,06,57,235 was also recovered from Shokeen's residence. Police officials say that raids are also being conducted at his office premises which is said to be located in Rangpuri in south west Delhi.
In Bengaluru, the IT department also seized Rs 2.93 crore in total with a large amount being recovered from a flat guarded by two ferocious dogs. IT officials told DNA that they had received a tipoff that an apartment in the Yeshwanthpur locality had some cash but they could not execute the search on Tuesday as the old lady living in the flat refused to cooperate with them.
Finally, IT officials, along with the help of the local police, entered the flat on Wednesday upon which they found a locked room. "The locked room was opened and unexplained cash to the tune of Rs 2.89 crore, which included Rs 2.25 crore of new Rs 2,000 notes, was found. The cash has been seized and further investigations are on," the IT department said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in Goa's capital Panaji, the IT department seized Rs 67.98 lakh in new notes of Rs 2,000 from a person who met the officials. Acting as decoy customers in desperate need of cash, the officials arrested the man and confiscated the cash "The seizure was made from a place called Banda on the Maharashtra-Goa border," an official said.
Post demonetization, the department's investigative wings of Karnataka and Goa have seized a total of Rs 29.86 crore, with Rs 20.22 crore in new notes, 41.6 kg bullion and 14 kg jewellery so far. Officials in the investigative departments of these two states said that they have detected unaccounted income worth Rs 1,000 crore in these two states, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. So far, 36 raid operations have been carried out in both states.
Other parts of India too saw raids with over Rs 2 crores, mostly in new notes, being seized in Chandigarh on Wednesday. And in a surprise incident, IT officials nabbed two men driving a two-wheeler which was carrying new notes worth up to Rs. 67 lakh, in Panaji. IT officials have now seized the cash, and are analysing the mobile phone data of the arrested men. The phone allegedly has details of those who are involved in money-laundering.
The large amount of illegal cash being unearthed through raids, carried out by officials in the past few weeks, shows the government's bid to unearth black money may be working. But officials continuously have to keep a sharp eye out as more and more innovative methods are being employed to smuggle out black money. In a recent instance, customs officials at the Delhi airport caught a couple returning from Bangkok, who were trying to smuggle 16 kg gold into the country. The gold had been placed in diapers.
CBDT Tightens Rules for Revised Returns
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has warned taxpayers against misusing provisions for filing revised tax returns by manipulating earlier years' figures of income, cash-in-hand, profits etc. with an intention to manipulate the current year's undisclosed income.
The CBDT stated that the provision to file revised returns of income u/s 139(5) of the Act has been stipulated for revising any omission or wrong statement made in the original return of income. It asserted that revision provisions cannot be used for resorting to making changes in the income initially declared so as to "drastically alter the form, substance and quantum of the earlier disclosed income."
Such manipulation in the amount of income, cash-in-hand, profits etc. and fudging of accounts may necessitate scrutiny of such cases and may also attract penalty/prosecution in appropriate cases as per provision of law.
DNA India News
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