The I-T department and the Central Board of Direct Taxes took the fizz out of the raging controversy by claiming that the tax evasion was likely to be under Rs4 crore.
NEW DELHI: From Rs35,000 crore to a little over Rs3.5 crore – the shift in the fortunes of Pune-based stud-farm owner Hassan Ali Khan, touted as India’s biggest tax evader just four days ago, seems radical.
On Monday, the income-tax department and the Central Board of Direct Taxes took the fizz out of the raging controversy by claiming that the tax evasion was likely to be under Rs4 crore.
“Certain sections of the media have speculated about the transfer of sums ranging from Rs35,000 crore to Rs42,000 crore to Switzerland, but this information is without credibility,” AK Sinha, CBDT joint director, told DNA after a high-level meeting of directors-general of income tax.
“We have also not found the names of any politician,” he said. “The case has been misreported.”
The raids carried out in connection with the case have not found a place in the department’s list of extraordinary investigations of the year.
“The 14 directors-general of income tax (investigations) met Finance Minister P Chidambaram to discuss extraordinary cases,” said Sinha.
“But this particular case was not even mentioned,” Sinha said. “The director-general from Pune was also present at the meeting.”
Sinha said income-tax officers raided Khan’s premises in January and seized Rs85 lakh in cash. Khan also surrendered concealed income worth Rs4 crore.
Describing the case as ‘mere media hype’, Sinha said I-T detectives raided Khan’s properties because he failed to pay taxes for more than two years. “He was issued a PAN card in 2005, but he did not care to pay taxes since,” he said.
Sinha said detectives found documents and a computer hard-disk containing Khan’s business transactions. “We are studying the nature of the transactions,” he said.
Since the transactions pertained to cross-border dealings, the I-T department sought the Enforcement Directorate’s intervention. “Any further investigation will be carried out by the directorate,” Sinha said.
He, however, said that since Khan is an entrepreneur dealing in horses, the revelation of cross-border transactions is not surprising.
But ED finds big money, links
Renni Abraham
MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating the Swiss bank accounts of Indian nationals discovered during an income-tax raid on Hassan Ali Khan, has secured details of a vast cache of monies.
The havala scandal, which has produced conflicting claims, yielded some intrigue on Monday when a few ED personnel assisting the investigating officer were moved out of the case.
Earlier, a Mumbai court had issued a letter rogatory (LR) to the ED on its application made in February 2007. The ED had provided information on account numbers and also articulated the urgent need to study the possibility of money laundering being engaged in by Khan and his associates.
An officer of the directorate, who visited Switzerland with the LR, returned last week with data provided by the banks there.
“We never said Khan was sole owner of all the funds held in various foreign bank accounts,” a source told DNA.
“Our investigations revolve around the possibility of Khan being the front for holders of other bank accounts, details of which were found in the hard disk of the laptop seized from him. We estimate he is worth around Rs50 crore."
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