Rs 250 crore recovered in raids on UP businessman Piyush Jain; check other huge recoveries in past

In November this year, Income Tax officials unearthed unaccounted income of about Rs 300 crore and seized unaccounted cash of about Rs 3.3 crore in raids at more than 40 premises of the SKM Group of Companies in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. SKM Group is engaged in manufacturing animal feed, edible oils, poultry, farming and also exporting egg products.

In October this year, the Income Tax department discovered unaccounted income of about Rs 550 crore from a Hyderabad-based major pharmaceutical group Hetero Group following a series of raids. Additionally, tax sleuths seized unexplained cash amounting to Rs 142.87 crore from the company. The company is promoted by member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams trust board, B Parthasarathy Reddy, who has links with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The I-T department had unearthed around Rs 650 crore of concealed income in 2019 from coffee czar VG Siddhartha, founder and owner of retail coffee chain Café Coffee Day. Search and seize operations were conducted at 25 places of CCD and group companies in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Siddhartha, who later committed suicide, was the elder son-in-law of former External Affairs Minister SM. Krishna.

In 2018, I-T investigators conducted raids at 25 locations in Tamil Nadu to track unaccounted income of Nagarajan Seyyadurai, owner of a group of companies under the SPK Group. The SPK Group was engaged in constructing roads and highways on contract from the government. The I-T department had seized Rs 160 crore in cash and 100 kg gold in a series of flash raids. Seyyadurai had close links to the AIADMK party.

In one of the biggest raids following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, tax sleuths in Chennai uncovered Rs 140 crore cash, including over Rs 34 crore in the then newly printed Rs 2,000 notes, from the residence of businessman Sekhar Reddy in 2016. Gold of above 120 kg was also recovered after search operations were conducted in various places in Chennai and Vellore districts. Reddy, a contractor at the public works department, was also a member of the Tirupathi Devasthanam board and had close ties with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.