In Bengaluru raids linked to pharma firm, gold, diamond jewellery seized: Report

The Income Tax Department on Wednesday combed through 36 premises of a Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical firm across nine states and seized gold and diamond jewellery and cash of more than ₹1 crore. The pharma company is accused of evading tax, news agency ANI reported.

Published on: Jul 14, 2022, 11:01:50 IST

By Yamini C S

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The Income Tax Department on Wednesday searched several locations linked to a Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical firm and uncovered irregularities relating to tax evasion, recovering gold and diamond jewellery apart from cash of ₹1.2 crores, news agency ANI reported.

The Income tax department on Wednesday searched offices and locations belonging to a Bengaluru-based pharma company. (HT PHOTO)

The department scoured 36 locations of the company across nine states on July 6 and found substantial incriminating evidence in the form of documents and digital data, according to an official statement released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

The tax department's officials have now reportedly seized unaccounted cash of up to ₹1.20 crore and gold and diamond jewellery worth more than ₹1.40 crore.

The company, which has not been named, is engaged in manufacturing pharmaceutical products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), and has branches in over 50 countries.

Evidence collected against the firm suggests that tax was evaded using methods like accounting ‘unallowable’ expenses by distributing freebies to medical professionals under the head "Sales and Promotion".

The group has been accused of spending around ₹1,000 crore in promoting its products unethically by giving out freebies in the form of travel expenses and gifts to doctors in the name of "Promotion and Propaganda", "Seminars and Symposiums", "Medical Advisories" etc.

Officials estimated the total amount of tax evaded by the company to be over ₹300 crore, for which it has used various fraudulent means including artificially inflated deductions and inadequate allocation of expenses.

(With ANI Inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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