I-T raids net Rs 300 crore Chettinad assets
NEW DELHI: The income tax department has discovered unaccounted income of over Rs 300 crore, including large seizure of cash and jewellery, during raids conducted on the Chettinad group two months ago. The tax department alleges that the money is linked to businessman MAMR Muthiah.
Sources said the tax department is surprised at the amount of undisclosed income and is investigating the issue further. The recovery included a few sacks full of cash and jewellery, an official said.
When contacted on Friday, Muthiah’s office said he was not well and unable to answer phone calls. An email sent on Friday did not elicit a response.
The income tax department had conducted searches in June at around 35 locations in Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, which resulted in the seizure of cash, jewellery and documents pointing to undisclosed income.
The raids came days after M A M Ramaswamy, chairman emeritus of the Rs 10,000-crore Chettinad group of companies, had lodged a police complaint against Muthiah, his adopted son whom he has now disowned, alleging various offences, including criminal intimidation. Separately, Ramaswamy had alleged that Muthiah owed money to the service tax department.
Tax department officials said the raids had nothing to do with the family feud and it was sheer coincidence that they were conducted around the time when the controversy was at its peak.
They said that the department had been following the case for a while and had built up a large pool of information before officials conducted the search operations in early June. “We did a 360 degrees profiling, which meant mapping and collecting information from various sources before actually moving on the case,” said an officer, who did not wish to be identified.
In recent months, the tax department has increased scrutiny as it faces pressure to unearth black money both overseas and in the domestic economy, a key agenda item for the Narendra Modi government.
Read full article: TOI
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