Tax raids at premises linked to Piyush Jain, a Kanpur businessman who is part of the perfume industry, have recovered more than Rs 150 crore cash, Vivek Johri, the Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), told news agency ANI on Friday.
"This is the biggest recovery in the history of the CBIC. No arrest has taken place so far," he said.
Photographs from the raid showed two mountains of cash stuffed into two large wardrobes. The bundles were all wrapped in paper covers and secured with yellow tape. In each photo there are over 30 such bundles visible.
Another photograph showed officials from the CBIC, the IT department and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Intelligence unit squatting on a floral sheet spread in the middle of a room and surrounded by yet more piles of cash, and three note-counting machines.
The raids on multiple premises in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Mumbai began Thursday (and continued into Friday) at a factory owned by M/s Trimurti Fragrances - which manufactures the Shikhar brand of pan masala and other scented tobacco products - in UP's Kanpur.
Raids were also carried out at offices and godowns owned by a transporter - M/s Ganpati Road Carriers, also in Kanpur - after which the action shifted to Piyush Jain's premises.
"Based on intelligence inputs, the residential premises of partners of M/s Odochem Industries... who were supplying perfumery compounds... was also searched," the GST department's statement said.
"During the search proceedings at the residential premises, huge amounts of cash, wrapped in paper, has been found. The process of counting of cash has been initiated with the help of officials of State Bank of India (Kanpur), which may continue till (evening of) 24 December..." the statement said.
"The total amount of cash is expected to be in excess of Rs 150 crores," it further said.
GST officials said the money was linked to the dispatch of goods via fake invoices and without e-way bills by a goods transporter. These fake invoices were created in the name of imaginary firms.
These invoices were for Rs 50,000 each and more than 200 such invoices - created without GST payments - were found in four trucks inside the trader's warehouse.
All four trucks have been seized.
With input from ANI
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