The Income Tax Department has carried out search and seizure operations on 01.12.2021 in respect of 2 groups engaged in the Retail Sales of Jewellery, Textiles and Home Appliances through their popular chain of Stores in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli. A total of 37 premises were covered in this action.

In the case of the first group, seized documents and other incriminating materials gathered during the course of the search have revealed, that, the assessee had been actively involved in systematically suppressing sales by manipulating their books of accounts. The extent of suppression of sales is found to be more than ₹ 1000 crore, over a period of several years.  It was also found, that, the assessee had made unaccounted cash purchases of about ₹ 150 crore in textile division and jewellery division, during the past few years.

In respect of the second group, incriminating material seized during the course of search, has revealed that the assessee group had obtained bogus bills from a set of parties to the tune of ₹ 80 crore and thereby suppressed taxable income. Evidences relating to the unaccounted purchases of gold have also been gathered. Besides, the assessee group is found to be debiting inflated making charges of jewellery. In addition, unaccounted rental receipts and the unaccounted scrap sales aggregating to ₹ 7 crore have also been detected.

The searches on the two groups have led to a seizure of cash of Rs. 10 crore and jewellery/ bullion worth about ₹ 6 crore.

Further investigations are under progress.

Suppression of sales uncovered; enforcement action revealed bogus bills and unaccounted purchases, leading to searches and seizures. Searches of two retail groups uncovered systematic suppression of sales through manipulated books and substantial unaccounted cash purchases in textile and jewellery divisions; the second group used bogus bills, unaccounted gold purchases, inflated making charges, and undisclosed rental and scrap receipts. Physical seizures of cash and jewellery/bullion were made and investigations continue.