Raids in Hyderabad have revealed not one or two but 114 companies operating out of a single room, complete with balance-sheets, directors and their salaries.
The firms, most of them believed to be shell companies, were found operating from a room in an upmarket mall in the city's Jubilee Hills area.
A team of eight officials visited an address on the third floor of the Fortune Monarch mall this morning. They were stunned by what they found.
At least 50 of the 114 companies have no business operations and many of them show losses of Rs 8 crore to 15 crore.
Sources say the companies were lending to each other and may have been created to circulate money.
The companies, say officials, hold assets like agricultural land and also file returns.
Their directors are also drawing salaries; there are directors who are "managing" 25-30 companies each. "They seem to be related to each other," said an official.
The law in India does not allow one person to be director for more than 20 companies.
The raids took place on orders from Delhi to check locations from where more than 25 companies are operating. There are at least six more locations that are likely to be raided; these are rooms that each house as many as 48, 38, 33 and 28 companies.
Sources say one firm, SRSR Advisory Service, is the accountant for all these companies and Hill County - formerly Maytas, set up by Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju's son - is among them.
The officers will file for prosecution after examining the documents in detail, NDTV was told.
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