Rs 9 crore unaccounted money seized from two financing groups in Chennai

CHENNAI: The income tax department has seized Rs 9 crore of

unaccounted money

from two private syndicate

financing groups

in Chennai. The department detected undisclosed income of more than Rs 300 crore during searches on 35 premises of these groups on September 23, said an official release on Saturday.

It said the evidence found on the premises of the

financiers

and their associates had revealed that these groups had lent to various big corporate houses and businesses in Tamil Nadu, a substantial portion of which was in cash.

The firms were charging high rate of interest, a part of which was not offered to tax. The modus operandi adopted by the groups revealed that most of the interest payments by borrowers had been received in dummy bank accounts and the same had not been disclosed for tax purposes. Further, the unaccounted money was disguised and brought into the books of account of the groups as unsecured loans, sundry creditors and similar heads.

Other evidence found during the course of the search revealed that numerous undisclosed property investments and other income suppression by these groups.

Further investigations were in progress, the release said.