When UP perfumer’s ‘mountain of cash’ raised a stink
India’s ‘biggest cash haul’ at Congress MP’s premises in Ranchi brings back memories of a similar crackdown on Piyush Jain in Kanpur two years ago
KANPUR The “biggest-ever” black money haul (of ₹353 crore) by any agency in a single operation at the premises linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu in Ranchi has brought back memories of a similar crackdown on UP perfumer Piyush Jain in Kanpur two years ago.
While the Jharkhand case has turned into a hot political topic with both BJP and Congress engaging in a slugfest, the raids by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Jain’s premises on December 23, 2021, had also stunned the entire country after the ‘biggest cash haul’ of that time.
The DGGI team landed outside a house in the posh Anand Vihar colony, unmindful that it was about to make the ‘biggest recovery’ of cash. This house was owned by Piyush Jain, a perfumer from Kannauj, supplying pan masala compound to leading brands.
Over the next 36 hours, officials unearthed a ‘cash mountain’ with bundles of currency notes stuffed in cupboards, safes and lockers in the house. As many as 18 currency counting machines worked non-stop, and counted ₹196.54 crore cash. The currency bundles were wrapped in paper and plastic, and secured with coloured tape.
Meanwhile, another team found 23kg of imported gold from hidden lockers in the cellar of Jain’s ancestral house in Kannauj. It was the biggest recovery of cash in the country - the ‘record’ stood for two years, before being ‘surpassed’ by the recovery of ₹353 crore unaccounted cash at the premises linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu in Jharkhand.
It all began with tax inspectors stopping a truck loaded with pan masala in Ahmedabad early in December that year. They found several questionable invoices with the driver, who couldn’t prove their authenticity. Officials from the DGGI, a law enforcement agency under the Union finance ministry fighting tax evasion, started looking for the owner of the truck – Praveen Jain, who ran Ganapati Transport.
On December 21, investigators landed in Kanpur to raid the offices of the pan masala company, ‘Shikhar’ and Praveen Jain. During the raid, the DGGI team intercepted four more trucks – all owned by Ganpati Transport - loaded with the same pan masala brand, and all with the same fake invoices, issued to fictitious firms.
In all, 200 such fake invoices were found. Officials tallied the stock available in the factory with the stock recorded in the books, and found a massive mismatch.
With the needle of suspicion turning towards the supplier of raw material, investigators started looking at Piyush Jain, a relative of Praveen Jain who supplied a key raw material – the chemical compound that gives a distinct scent to each brand of pan masala – and showed up at his house the next day. They recovered ₹196.54 crore unaccounted cash.
Pictures of officials sifting through mounds of cash on the floor and notes piled up went viral. The haul of cash was one of the largest by an enforcement agency, the Union finance ministry had said, and details about how the money was recovered from underground bunkers, walls and furniture riveted everyone.
The currency notes were finally taken away in 61 tin boxes to the SBI’s main branch in Kanpur. The cash still remains in a bank acccount the DGGI opened (it is case property). Jain, who was charged under Section 69 of Central GST Act, offered to pay ₹57 crore as penalty under income tax. But it was turned down on the grounds that the money recovered was part of GST evasion.
After a detailed investigation, the DGGI in December 2022 levied a penalty of ₹497 crore on Piyush Jain, his three firms, and his partners along with transporter Praveen Jain. In May this year, the DGGI filed a 1.60-lakh page charge-sheet against 14 people, with Piyush Jain listed as the prime accused.
According to public prosecutor Ambrish Tandon, Jain faces two cases - one of GST evasion and the other of gold smuggling. The cases are on in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM). Jain was granted bail in September 2022 and has been appearing in court. His lawyer was not available for comments.