More admissions of concealed income to I-T Dept this year

The seizures effected in the four-month period last year were to the tune of Rs 11.46 crore, while this year, they are Rs 12.24 crore.

Search operations on 34 groups in the city directorate have yielded unexpected facts for the IT Department. The alleged role of a chartered accountant in one case, by the use of fake TDS certificates to claim refunds, is being investigated further and a criminal case is likely to be initiated.

The case is one against a group of transport and stevedoring companies, whose officials have admitted to concealment to the tune of Rs 22.23 crore. The companies admitted to inflating expensesby securing fake bills. A seizure of Rs 24 lakh was also made in this case.

Another major case was detected against clearing agents and Customs House agents, in which assets worth Rs 2.14 crore were seized and an admission of concealment of Rs 30 crore was made (by the company).

Evidence of shipping agents’ collusion with their customers to claim higher duty drawback by forging documents has also come on record.

One raid on a group involved in polyester yarn production yielded an admission of concealment of Rs 3.5 crore and a seizure of assets worth Rs 1.03 crore.

However, the major cases being investigated by the directorate are in the hawala operations (the term for bogus book entries), after last year’s success in cracking two big hawala rackets.

Last year’s cases resulted in declarations to the tune of Rs 120 crore under the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) by about 175 beneficiaries of such accommodating bills. From the investigations this year, the department suspects that anestimated Rs 200 crore worth transactions are tainted in this manner.