The Income Tax department has seized Rs 102 crore, including unaccounted cash worth 94 crore, after raiding 55 premises spread across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi, officials said on Monday.
The raids were conducted on October 12 at the premises of government contractors, real estate developers and their associates, they said.
A large number of incriminating documents and digital evidence have been found. The modus operandi of tax evasion detected indicates that these contractors were involved in reducing their income by inflation of expenses by booking bogus purchases, non-genuine claim of expenses with sub-contractors and claiming ineligible expenses, according to a CBDT press release.
The irregularities detected in utilization of contract receipts have resulted in generation of huge unaccounted cash and creation of undisclosed assets, it said.
Evidences of huge discrepancies in documentation related to purchases booked and actual physical transport of goods have also been unearthed, the release said.
“The Income Tax department seized unaccounted cash of approximately Rs 94 crore and gold and diamond jewelry of over Rs 8 crore, aggregating to more than Rs 102 crore,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
Further, a cache of about 30 luxury wrist watches of foreign make were also found from the possession of an individual, it said.