The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted searches across several locations in Chennai and other places in Tamil Nadu on the suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering.
Around 40 locations of the company Thirumalaivasa Milk Products Private Limited in and around Chennai were searched over charges of money laundering and tax evasion. The company’s chartered accountant, as well as its manager, were also searched. According to I-T sources, around 350 officials of the Income Tax Department were involved in searches.
Meanwhile, in separate I-T raids, several locations of four individuals connected to real estate are being searched, news agency ANI said.
According to reports, the four businessmen – Brahmanandam, Rama Anjaneyulu, Ramamurthy and Jayaprakash – were involved in real estate, dairy and money lending businesses and had not accounted their income correctly. Searches are on at several places in Chennai and in Vellore and Villupuram districts, IANS reported.
About a month ago, around 120 teams of the Income Tax Investigation Wing conducted searches at over 70 branches of the retail store chain Saravana stores in Chennai and Coimbatore.
On January 3, the Income Tax Department conducted searches at four popular restaurant chains in Chennai and suburban areas. This included restaurants and corporate offices of Saravana Bhavan, Grand Sweets and Snacks, Anjappar and Hot Breads. The searches were conducted, according to sources, after the investigators secured evidence of alleged tax evasion by the restaurants.