Income tax dept detects Rs 335-cr black money after raids on Pune tobacco group

The Income Tax Department has detected about Rs 335 crore undisclosed income after it raided a Pune-based business group engaged in packaging and sale of tobacco products and related items, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said on Monday. The searches, which were launched at 34 locations across Maharashtra on February 17, led to the seizure of "unaccounted" cash of Rs 1 crore, it said.

"Profit on un-recorded transactions of sale of real estate amounting to Rs 9 crore has been accepted by the assessee," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the body that frames policy for the Income Tax Department, said in a statement.

"Total undisclosed income amounting to Rs 335 crore has been detected so far," it said.


The group is based in Pune's Sangamner area and its entities are largely engaged in packaging and sale of tobacco and related products, generation and distribution of power, sale of FMCGs, and real estate development, the CBDT added.

It said that "hand written and excel sheets maintained on computer revealed unrecorded cash sale transactions amounting to Rs 243 crore related to sale of tobacco".

"In addition to this, action on some dealers in tobacco products revealed further un-recorded sale by them amounting to about Rs 40 crore," the CBDT said.

The group, it claimed, is also accepting and paying cash over and above the registration value in transactions relating to real estate.

"Evidence of transactions amounting to Rs 18 crore was found in this regard," the statement said.

"Issues relating to violations of section 50C of the I-T Act (dealing with computation of capital gain sale of land or building) amounting to Rs 23 crore have also been found," it said.