Tax evasion of over 1350 crores detected in raids against leading power sector

Tax evasion of over 1350 crores detected in raids against leading power sector  On Monday The income tax department said it had detected  tax evasion of more than Rs 1,350 crore during its early April search and seizure operations carried out on Hindustan Powerprojects  owned by the nephew of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath. The Central Board of direct taxes(CBDT), in a statement, said that the solar power company was related to a group which was raided on April 7 by the Delhi unit of the directorate general of  Income tax (Investigation).The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said raids were conducted at offices of the solar power group at several locations in NCR, Bhopal, Indore and Goa by the Delhi unit of the Directorate General of Income-tax(Investigation) based on "credible information" of large scale collection, possession and movement of unaccounted assets. The IT raids on the leading solar company found accommodation entries of Rs 370 crore using a maze of shell companies as conduits.During the search operation, taxmen found that a maze of shell companies was being used as conduits for providing entries to the group and 'accommodation entries' in the garb of bogus unsecured loans/share application money to the tune of Rs 370 crore was detected. The search action was undertaken on the basis of credible information and has led to detection of large scale tax evasion of more than Rs 1,350 crore," the CBDT said. Puri was also grilled by the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi earlier in connection with a probe into the controversial Rs 3,600 AgustaWestland helicopters deal. A handwritten diary containing records of out of books cash receipts to the tune of around Rs 240 crore was also seized from the office of the group. "The entries therein have been admitted by the persons concerned," the statement said. Over-invoicing of imports and round tripping of Rs 252 crore was also detected during the search. Enquiries have revealed that the solar group used the services of a Dubai-based operator to park unaccounted foreign remittances in overseas jurisdictions. Out of such remittances, about Rs 27 crore was paid towards credit card expenses and Rs 72 crore for purchase of a property abroad. The CBDT also found bogus loans of Rs 30 crore in a group company and investigations revealed that the loan entry of Rs 30 crore in one of the group companies was an accommodation entry arranged by an entry operator against equivalent cash. Besides, unaccounted payment of Rs 9 crore towards the purchase of a property has also been detected and unaccounted assets of Rs 3 crore has been seized during the search. Taking note of the I-T raids, the Election Commission in a letter to the Revenue Department "strongly advised" that any action by its enforcement agencies during election time should be "neutral" and "non-discriminatory". The Revenue Department in its reply to the Election Commission said that its enforcement actions are always 'neutral', 'impartial' and 'non-discriminatory' irrespective of political affiliation.