The Income Tax department has detected undisclosed foreign assets worth around ₹1,000 crore belonging to the Jyotsna Suri-led Bharat Hotels Limited, which runs The LaLit chain of hotels across the country, e officials familiar with the development said.
It has also found domestic tax evasion worth ₹35 crore by the hospitality group which may lead to consequences under the Black Money Act, 2015 and the Income-tax Act, 1961, the officials added.
The department conducted raids on 13 premises of Bharat Hotels’ and those of Chairperson Suri on January 19.
In a statement issued on Friday, the IT Department’s spokesperson said the department has seized unaccounted assets worth ₹24.93 crore, which includes ₹71.5 lakh in cash, jewellery worth ₹23 crore and expensive watches worth ₹1.2 crore, during the raids.
The action, the spokesperson said, is in line with government’s mission against black money, particularly foreign assets.
“The Bharat Hotels group has been on IT department’s radar for having substantial undisclosed foreign assets,” the department added.
“Evidence seized during the search reveals that a large amount of black money was stashed abroad by the group, through the mechanism of Trusts, formed in the early 1990s in tax havens. Such foreign holdings of the main persons have remained hidden for decades beneath complex multi-layered structures, located in different countries, ensuring secrecy. Search action further revealed that one of the close relatives of the promoter family was intentionally introduced as a front to ostensibly escape the provisions of domestic tax laws,” the IT department said in its statement.
{{/usCountry}}“Evidence seized during the search reveals that a large amount of black money was stashed abroad by the group, through the mechanism of Trusts, formed in the early 1990s in tax havens. Such foreign holdings of the main persons have remained hidden for decades beneath complex multi-layered structures, located in different countries, ensuring secrecy. Search action further revealed that one of the close relatives of the promoter family was intentionally introduced as a front to ostensibly escape the provisions of domestic tax laws,” the IT department said in its statement.
{{/usCountry}}The foreign assets identified by the IT sleuths include investment in a hotel in UK, immovable properties in the UK and the UAE as well as deposits with foreign banks.
“The investigation has successfully lifted the veil, leading to detection of undisclosed foreign assets of more than ₹1000 crore, apart from domestic tax evasion of more than ₹35 crore,” the spokesperson added.
The Bharat Hotels group runs over a dozen luxury hotels across the country and a property in London. Jyotsna Suri has been associated with the Bharat Hotels group since 1989 and took over as the Chairperson and Managing Director (CMD) in 2006.
A Bharat Hotels spokesperson did not respond to queries.