Raids confirm undisclosed deals by brokers

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 26. The Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Mr. A. Balasubramaniam, today confirmed that searches had been made at the business and residential premises of six stock brokers by various divisions of the Revenue Department and documents indicating undisclosed transactions had been seized in all the cases. Investigations were now on to assess the exact quantum of the undisclosed income while in one case it was of the order of Rs. 15 crores as assessed so far.

The raids were conducted on the business and residential premises of Mr. Ketan Parekh, Mr. Nirmal Bang, Mr. Radhakrishnan S. Damani, Mr. Anand Rathi, Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Mr. Shankar Sharma. Lockers of the searched parties in four of the cases had been kept under prohibitory orders and would be opened in due course to ascertain disclosed or undisclosed income.

According to the CBDT Chairman, the material discovered includes a substantial quantity of jewellery and gold, share certificates running into several crores as well as evidence of share transactions running into thousands of crores. The Directorate of Investigation, Mumbai, which conducted the searches, has confirmed that there was a clear linkage of the material discovered with an attempt to avoid disclosing income.

The evidence available also indicated in some cases fictitious purchase and sale of shares, resulting in trading in or profits and losses. In one case, this evidence was of the order of Rs. 7 crores so far, the CBDT Chairman said.

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Section  : Business
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