I-T Department unearths Rs. 3,300 crore hawala scam involving infrastructure firms

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) claimed that the Income Tax Department has busted a hawala racket worth Rs. 3,300-crore which is spread across multiple cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad with links to “leading corporate houses” in the infrastructure sector.

The raids to unearth the large tax evasion nexus were conducted in the first week of November 2019 on 42 premises in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Erode, Pune, Agra and Goa on a group of people indulging in issuing bogus bills and carrying on hawala transactions. According to CBDT, the I-T Department was successful in busting incriminating evidences and has established the nexus between big corporates, hawala operators and identification of entire chain of delivery, as well as siphoning of funds by way of fake and bogus contracts to the tune of Rs. 3,300 crore.

A major racket of cash generation by leading corporate houses in the infrastructure sector through bogus contracts and bills has been unearthed by the raid. The companies involved in siphoning of funds are mostly located in the national capital region and Mumbai.

The CBDT said that the projects involved in bogus billing are major infrastructure and EWS (economically weaker section) projects located in south India. Evidence of cash payment of more than Rs. 150 crore to a prominent person in Andhra Pradesh came to light during the search. Moreover, unexplained cash of Rs. 4.19 crore and jewellery worth in excess of Rs. 3.2 crore was also seized during the search operation.