Rs 200 cr worth undisclosed income found in raids on TN film producers: I-T dept

The Income Tax department stated that unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 26 crore along with gold jewellery exceeding Rs 3 crore were also seized.
Movie producers KalaiPuli S Dhanu Anbu chezhiyan and Gnanavelraja
Movie producers KalaiPuli S Dhanu Anbu chezhiyan and Gnanavelraja
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The Income Tax department has found around Rs 200 crore worth of undisclosed income in the recent I-T raids conducted on the premises of Tamil movie producers, distributors, and financiers. The Central Board of Direct Taxes released a statement on Saturday, August 6, stating that undisclosed income exceeding Rs 200 crore had been detected during the searches and unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 26 crore along with gold jewellery exceeding Rs 3 crore have been seized.

On August 2, the Income Tax department conducted raids on multiple locations connected with film financier and producer GN Anbu Chezhiyan, and prominent producers including Kalaipuli S Thanu, Gnanavelraja, SR Prabu. Financier GN Anbu Chezhiyan's residence in Nungambakkam and Gopuram Cinema offices in Chennai and Madurai were raided for the third time.

Sakthi film factory's Sakthivel, Singam-2 producer Prince picture's Lakshman, Sathya Jothi Thiyagarajan’s residences were also raided. More than 40 premises located in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, and Vellore were raided by I-T sleuths. In a press release, the I-T department noted that during the search operations, the I-T officials found several incriminating documents and digital evidence that are linked to the unaccounted cash transactions and investments. "Secret and hidden premises have also been unearthed during the search," the statement added.

"The searches in the case of film financiers have revealed documents like promissory notes etc., relating to unaccounted cash loans, which were advanced to various film production houses and others. In the cases of film production houses, evidence reveals tax evasion, as the actual amounts realised from the release of the films are much more than the amounts shown in the regular books of account. The unaccounted income so generated by them is deployed for undisclosed investments as well as for various undisclosed payments," the statement said. The investigation is still going on.

It may be noted that the I-T department officials had raided the properties of Anbu Chezhiyan and seized around Rs 77 crore in February 2020. This raid was conducted after the release of actor Vijay’s Bigil, and both the actor and producer Kalapathi Agoram of the film had come under the I-T scanner.

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