Followed by a three-day extensive search in the properties of actor Sonu Sood, the Income Tax sleuths on Saturday stated that the actor evaded taxed to the tune of Rs 20 crores.
While the taxation department had carried out surveys at 28 premises spread over Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, Delhi, and Gurugram as part of the operation, the department today said that it has found incriminating evidence pertaining to tax evasion during the search.
“During the course of search at the premises of the actor and his associates, incriminating evidence pertaining to tax evasion have been found. The main modus operandi followed by the actor had been to route his unaccounted income in the form of bogus unsecured loans from many bogus entities,” the tax department said in the statement.
The statement also read that Sonu Sood’s non-profit also raised Rs 2.1 crores from overseas donors using a crowdfunding platform in violation of the law – Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act – that governs such transactions.
The officials also confirmed that the non-profit Sood Charity Foundation set up in July last year collected donations of over ₹ 18 crores till April this year-out of which Rs 1.9 crores has been spent on relief work and the balance Rs 17 crores has been lying unused in the non-profit’s bank account.
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I-T officials also raided a Lucknow builder where the actor had invested. The builder is accused of bogus entries (laundering of black money) of more than Rs 65 crore while the unaccounted income of the builder has been estimated at over Rs 175 crore.
