Income Tax Department conducts searches on real estate groups in West Bengal

Kolkata: The Income Tax Department carried out a search and seizure operation on two prominent real estate groups in Kolkata, said officials on Wednesday.
The searches were conducted on August 18. During the course of the search operation, a large number of incriminating pieces of evidence including documents and digital data were found and seized.

"There are pieces of evidence of out-of-books cash transactions and on-money receipts. Several documents and electronic data indicate the routing of unaccounted money through shell companies. Further, some of the evidence found during the search operation indicates the use of unaccounted funds in land acquisition," said the official spokesperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
The key persons admitted the use of shell companies for the infusion of unaccounted funds in the form of share capital, share premium and unsecured loans through the sale of bogus investments.

The search action has, so far, led to a detection of a total unaccounted income of more than Rs. 250 crores.
During the course of search proceedings, 16 bank lockers have been found which have been placed under restraint.
Further investigations in the matter are underway. (ANI)