Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh): Piyush Jain, the Kanpur-based perfume trader, who was arrested after multiple raids and seizure of cash in crores at his residences, is scheduled to be produced in court on Monday. Jain was arrested on Sunday by the Income Tax Department officials under Section 69 of CGST Act, 2017 on the suspicion of tax evasion after a vigilance team of GST raided his Kanpur and Kannauj residences seizing gold, silver, and cash worth crores.
For the last three days, the officials of the Income Tax Department and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs have conducted a spree of raids with Piyush Jain as a primary target. The team reportedly raided both his houses and seized alleged unaccounted cash and jewellery, while today marks the fourth consecutive day of the raid.
On the first day of the raid, the team of officers recovered so much cash from Piyush Jain's house at Anandpuri, that it took about 50 boxes to fill the pads.
More than Rs 170 crore cash was initially recovered in the raid, along with several kilos of gold and silver. As the raid progresses further, the amount keeps swelling. if sources are to be believed, documents worth Rs 103 crore and more than 125 kg of gold along with billions in cash have been found from the ancestral house of Kannauj. The team has found nine sacks filled with cash that were procured from the walls and cellars of the house. Additionally, about 20 bags full of gold have also been recovered.
The investigating team now plans to hone its tools of investigation and include X-ray machines to scan the cash and gold hidden in the ground and walls of the house. Advanced appliances to break down the tunneled shelves, cellars and lockers in order to procure the potentially hidden wealth are also being planned to be included in the confiscation process. The authorities have further deployed a team of three bank personnel with four machine for counting the notes.
Piyush Jain, a resident of Chipatti mohalla of Kanpur, and his brother Ambareesh Jain are big perfume traders in the city. Piyush runs a perfumery company called Odocom. Apart from perfumes, they also make fragrance compounds used in Pan Masala, and supply goods to many Pan Masala companies. The trade deals also extend to some companies based in other countries. The company has about 40 branches across the world, including two in the Middle East. Additionally, Piyush Jain also has a house in Mumbai, along with a company head office and showroom.
The documents found at his residence confirm that he paid only rs. 5 lakh as taxes, which is practically negligible compared to the wealth in his possession, and therefore proves tax evasion. The reports of this raid have caused a stir among other perfume traders in the city. Such a humongous amount of cash recovered from this perfume seller's house has attracted attention and has become a matter of speculation for many.
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