Post-note ban, undisclosed income worth Rs 280 cr unearthed in region

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 18

Post-demonetisation, the Income Tax Department, North-West Region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, has detected around Rs 280 crore of undisclosed income as part of its searches and surveys. It has also seized over Rs 10 crore comprising old and new notes. Besides this, six prosecution notices have also been sent to defaulters as a result of over 250 inquires in bank accounts.

Madhu Mahajan, Director General-IT (Investigation), North-West Region, said post-demonetisation, the department has conducted 15 surveys and six searches. In the surveys, it unearthed undisclosed income worth Rs 238.26 crore. In the searches, the department detected Rs 33 crore of undisclosed income.

She further said Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Department of Revenue was sending information on regular basis based on high-value dubious transactions.

“It is not just the black money of businessmen which they have attempted to convert or launder but businesses and banks have also helped others to do so,” she said. For example, in one such case, cash was deposited in accounts of 780 employees, ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. Later on, it was withdrawn by the company. She said the department was taking action against the defaulters.

Briefing about the modus-operandi, she said, “Various hawala operators came up post-demonetisation. They would take cash and deposit it in the client’s account via RTGS for a fee. Benami accounts in layers were opened to launder unaccounted cash. In a case at Charkhi Dadri in Haryana, over Rs 1,000 crore has been found to be laundered.”

Highlighting irregularities even in transferring cash, she said, “Post- demonetisation, in some banks, especially cooperative banks, we found that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of RBI were not followed. Accounts were not properly maintained. We have seized cash worth over Rs 2.5 crore from a cooperative bank and helper companies. Helper companies are those which are entrusted with the task of transporting cash to ATMs.”