Got details of 70 shell firms of Sasi kin: I-T
B Sivakumar | TNN | Updated: Nov 22, 2017, 05:40 IST
CHENNAI: Senior income tax
officials in Chennai said they have unearthed 70 shell companies which
they believed were set up by convicted AIADMK leader V K Sasikala,
her family members and associates. The claim comes after searches at
Veda Nilayam, the Poes Garden residence of former CM J Jayalalithaa.
Earlier searches were conducted at 188 places.
Two officials, who did not want to be named, said they would decide on questioning Sasikala in the Bengaluru prison, after sifting through the seized documents. One of them said several bank accounts and lockers were frozen. Officials are perusing files including some stored in pen drives and laptops seized from various places. Hard and soft copies of many incriminating documents were seized from the rooms used by Sasikala and S Poongundran in Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence, said another official. Poongundran was Jayalalithaa's personal assistant.
Rajarajan, son-in-law of Ilavarasi - Sasikala's sister-in-law and co-convict in the wealth case - provided keys of the Veda Nilayam rooms, said officials.The department had pressed into service 1,800 officials for the search operation that lasted for a week. Apart from the documents seized at Poes Garden, the officials had seized Rs 7.14 crore cash, Rs 5 crore worth jewellery and documents relating to investment of Rs 1,430 crore worth unaccounted income."Much of the details about shell companies were found in pen-drives and computers. We will probe the source of funds for all the transactions. We are also probing whether investments were done in other countries," said the official.
The department will open the sealed bank lockers during the investigation, he said.The department apart from getting information from various sources about the business activities of Sasikala and family also made use its own wing. "We involved the Regional Economic Intelligence Council to watch the activities of the business and also provide information and documents. Only after collating all these information, we went on a massive search," said the official.
The department is likely to invoke Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 against some of the property owners. "The process of identifying the benamis has started. Earlier, most of the benamis used to be people working in the family. But now a days, benamis are mostly rank outsiders," said a senior official.
Two officials, who did not want to be named, said they would decide on questioning Sasikala in the Bengaluru prison, after sifting through the seized documents. One of them said several bank accounts and lockers were frozen. Officials are perusing files including some stored in pen drives and laptops seized from various places. Hard and soft copies of many incriminating documents were seized from the rooms used by Sasikala and S Poongundran in Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence, said another official. Poongundran was Jayalalithaa's personal assistant.
Rajarajan, son-in-law of Ilavarasi - Sasikala's sister-in-law and co-convict in the wealth case - provided keys of the Veda Nilayam rooms, said officials.The department had pressed into service 1,800 officials for the search operation that lasted for a week. Apart from the documents seized at Poes Garden, the officials had seized Rs 7.14 crore cash, Rs 5 crore worth jewellery and documents relating to investment of Rs 1,430 crore worth unaccounted income."Much of the details about shell companies were found in pen-drives and computers. We will probe the source of funds for all the transactions. We are also probing whether investments were done in other countries," said the official.
The department will open the sealed bank lockers during the investigation, he said.The department apart from getting information from various sources about the business activities of Sasikala and family also made use its own wing. "We involved the Regional Economic Intelligence Council to watch the activities of the business and also provide information and documents. Only after collating all these information, we went on a massive search," said the official.
The department is likely to invoke Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 against some of the property owners. "The process of identifying the benamis has started. Earlier, most of the benamis used to be people working in the family. But now a days, benamis are mostly rank outsiders," said a senior official.
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