Income tax dept unearths Rs 150-cr unaccounted investments and on-money payments in TN

The income tax department found unaccounted investments and on-money payments of about Rs 150 crore from searches conducted at 22 premises in Coimbatore, Erode, Chennai and Namakkal in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement on Thursday that searches were conducted at premises of a group engaged in the running of educational institutions and their associates, including a civil contractor.

"The search has led to identification of unaccounted investments and on-money payments to the extent of around Rs 150 crore. Cash amounting to Rs. 5 crore has been seized. Some lockers are yet to be operated," the Board said.


The search was carried out on the basis of information that fees collected from students were not fully accounted for in the regular books of accounts, the Board said.

Evidences found during the search revealed that the allegations regarding suppression of fees received were true and the unaccounted receipts were siphoned off to the personal accounts of the trustees, which in turn were invested in real estate through a company.

The other shareholders of the company, an architect from Tirupur and a textile businessman were also covered. Electronic devices seized during the course of search were being examined.

During the searches in the case of the civil contractors from Namakkal, inflation of expenditure by booking bogus expenses under labour charges, material purchase, etc. was also found.