I-T raids 50 offices of bullion major
The Income-Tax department on Tuesday raided around 50 premises of Riddhi Siddhi Bullions Ltd. (RSBL) in Mumbai and five other cities, after receiving inputs regarding the company’s alleged involvement in a hawala racket and bogus imports and exports of bullions. The police is also probing the possibility of the company having links with the hawala racket that was discovered in the ongoing Indian Premier League betting and spot-fixing scandal.
According to the I-T department, the raids began on Tuesday at around 7 am, simultaneously on various premises of the company. Most of the raids were carried out mainly in Mumbai, which also covered the head office of Riddi Siddhi Bullions Ltd., located in the bullion market in Zaveri Bazaar. Premises of more than a dozen firms linked with the accused bullion company were also raided in Delhi, Chennai, Surat and Hyderabad.
“We also raided 2-3 residences of Prithviraj Kothari, managing director of the Riddhi Siddhi Bullions, in the Twin Towers at Tardeo. The residences of his two brothers, who are directors in the company, and around a dozen senior officials of the company, were also searched. Many incriminating documents pertaining to alleged tax evasions were seized during the raids. The raid will continue for the next two days,” said a senior I-T officer.
Another senior I-T official said, “We suspect that the company is involved in unaccounted transactions, hawala transactions and bogus imports and exports of gold and diamond jewellery. Our investigation is more focused on exploring the company’s deep-rooted involvement in the hawala transactions. We initiated the investigation as per Section 132 (Search and seizure) of the Income Tax Act, after we received substantial inputs of the same.” They would also check if the company had links with the hawala racket that came to light in the IPL spot-fixing case, the officer added.
However, the company spokesperson, quoting Mr Kothari, said, “It is a normal income-tax raid which has nothing to do with the IPL. We request the media not to publish such news.”
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