Income tax dept raids Mumbai builder, mobile accessories traders

The income tax (I-T) department has carried out searches at 29 premises linked to a Mumbai-based builder, few real estate groups and some mobile accessories dealers and detected undisclosed income worth ₹270 crore.

The income tax (I-T) department has carried out searches at 29 premises linked to a Mumbai-based builder, few real estate groups and some mobile accessories dealers and detected undisclosed income worth ₹270 crore.

Income tax department, Mumbai. (HT FILE)

I-T officials on Saturday said simultaneous searches were carried out on March 17 at the premises of the builder and a developer group based in Mumbai. Searches were also conducted at the places of mobiles accessories trade. Beside this, surveys were conducted at 14 premises under the operation.

Questioned about the real estate group, I-T officials said it is developing a commercial mall with 950 units exclusively for mobile accessories business. Of these, about 905 have been sold since 2017.

“Evidence stored in a pendrive seized during the operation revealed that the builder group has taken an amount of ₹150 crore as on-money receipts over and above the agreement value, which is not accounted for in the books of accounts on sale of such units. Further, similar evidence amounting to ₹70 crore has been found in the pendrive pertaining to a residential-cum-commercial project. Cash amounting to ₹5.50 crore was found and seized from various premises of this group. The receipts of on-money for sale of shops/flats by the builder in various projects recorded in digital form have been seized,” stated Surabhi Ahluwalia, commissioner of I-T department and official spokesperson for Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT).

Raids at mobile accessories dealers led to seizure of incriminating evidence pertaining to out-of-books sales. “The group imports goods from China and sells these goods to various parties all over India. The imports are under invoiced and payments are made through hawala channels. Thirteen secret godowns containing unaccounted stock have been discovered. We are taking an inventory and valuation is under progress,” a senior I-T official said.

The investigation by I-T officials led to recovery of evidence of unaccounted investments in properties by suspect dealers amounting to ₹40.5 crore, of which ₹21 crore is against the units at the said mall.

Four undisclosed bank accounts in the names of employees have also been detected, which are used to collect sale proceeds from retail vendors of the group. The deposits in the bank accounts amount to ₹80 crore.

The tax agency said the operation revealed the entire sector of trading in mobile accessories is largely unaccounted for. The main components are imported from China through Mumbai and Chennai ports. Search has revealed that dealers are undervaluing sales and purchases in a major way, the agency stated.

The transactions with Chinese counterparts take place through We-Chat app, I-T investigators have found using forensics. Probe to extract information regarding the quantum and cost of Chinese imports is underway.

So far, unaccounted cash worth ₹5.89 crore has been seized. The searches have resulted in the detection of undisclosed income of around ₹270 crore.