New Delhi: The Income Tax Department has recovered cash and jewellery worth about Rs 5.26 crore after it carried out multi-city raids against hawala operators and individuals who prepare fake bills, the CBDT said on Tuesday. The inspections were carried out on Monday at 42 premises in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, it said.
The action was carried out against "a large network of individuals running the racket of entry operation (hawala like operation) and generation of huge cash through fake billing", officials said. During the raids, Rs 2.37 crore cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.89 crore has been found along with 17 bank lockers which are yet to be searched, the CBDT said in a statement.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the administrative authority for the IT department."The search has led to the seizure of evidence exposing the entire network of the entry operators, intermediaries, cash handlers, the beneficiaries and the firms and companies involved."So far, documents showing evidence of accommodation entries (hawala) of more than Rs 500 crore have already been found and seized," it said. Several shell entities and firms were used by the searched entry operators for layering of unaccounted money and cash withdrawals against fake bills issued and unsecured loans given, the Board said.
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