IT Department detects large 'suspicious' deposits from Tamil Nadu post-demonetisation

CHENNAI: Unaccounted money to the tune of Rs 246 crore was deposited in a bank account in a post-demonetisation single transaction that had connections to a state politician, an IT official told ET on conditions of anonymity.

The Centre had announced an amnesty scheme for tax dodgers to come clean soon after the government announced the scrapping of 500 and 1000 bills to combat dark transactions.

The IT official said nearly Rs 650 crore from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry had flowed into the tax department coffers after the government offered the window for evaders to clear it by remitting 50 per cent tax and depositing 25 per cent of the unaccounted money in a non-interest accruing deposit.


"The person who had deposited Rs 246 crore had paid the tax. Totally, we estimate about Rs 650 crore to have flowed into the amnesty scheme from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry," said the official.

IT sleuths had noticed suspicious money movement based on RBI reports in well over 27,000 bank accounts. Only about 18,000 account holders had responded to their notices. The department has held that nearly Rs 3,600 crore of unaccounted income has been deposited into banks. Nearly 440 accounts are "untraceable," as banks do not have proper customer details.

The official said the Rs 3600 crore of deposits and the corresponding bank account holders were "still under investigations.'