The Income Tax Department raided the premises of two Maharashtra-based real estate developers on December 22, 2022. Search and seizure operations were carried out across premises belonging to developers based in the Nandurbar and Dhule districts of Maharashtra.

“The search operation covered more than 25 premises spread across Nanndurbar, Dhule and Nashik. During the search and seizure operation many incriminating documents, loose papers, and digital evidence have been found and seized,” the department said in a statement.

The seized documents clearly reveal that they resorted to large-scale suppression of taxable income by inflating their expenses, primarily by way of the claim of non-genuine sub-contract expenses and unverifiable old sundry creditors, it added.

The search team also detected that subcontracts were awarded to family members and their employees who have not rendered services in this regard. Evidence has also been gathered about unrecorded expenses incurred in cash.

The I-T Department said that preliminary investigation indicates that one of the groups evaded income to the extent of Rs 150 crore on account of the above malpractices. In the case of the land developers, it has been found that a substantial part of the land transactions have been carried out in cash which are not accounted for in the regular books of account, it further said.

Further, incriminating documents evidencing receipt of ‘on-money’ on land transactions and cash loans exceeding Rs 52 crore have been found and seized. The search action has, so far, resulted in the seizure of unaccounted cash of more than Rs. 5 crore and jewellery valued at Rs. 5 crore.