I-T raids solar power group; uncovers `1,350 crore in tax evasion case

New Delhi: The Income Tax department raided several premises of a leading solar power group and unearthed an alleged tax-evasion racket of around Rs 1, 350 crore, officials said on

Monday.

Authorities said the searches were conducted in the NCR, Bhopal, Indore, and Goa, based upon "credible information of large scale collection, possession and movement of unaccounted assets, a few weeks back". They said this search operation was connected to the recent raids in Madhya Pradesh, where several people close to sitting Chief Minister Kamal Nath came under the scanner.

The raids, which were conducted on April 7, have revealed that the solar power group had allegedly set up a maze of shell companies through which Rs 370 crore was transferred under the pretext of bogus unsecured loans and share application money, claimed officials.

In addition, documents revealing bogus billing of Rs 330 crore have been seized and it was found that the siphoned off money was allegedly received in US dollars through hawala operators. I-T officials also claimed that a handwritten diary has been recovered in which details of unaccounted transactions worth Rs 240 crore were found. The concerned persons have admitted to these entries, they said.

Furthermore, authorities have alleged that the group paid bogus loans of up to Rs 30 crore to one of its own companies and also inflated import invoices to the tune of Rs 252 crore. The seizures have also revealed that the group had allegedly made unaccounted foreign investments and expenditures, including paying a credit card bill of Rs 27 crore and purchasing a property abroad for Rs 72 crore. Apart from the above I-T sleuths also claim to have found evidence of Rs 9 crore paid to purchase a property, which remains unaccounted for. Rs 3 crore worth of unaccounted assets were also seized, officials said.