New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Sunday claimed that it has come across an alleged “fake transaction” of the media conglomerate worth Rs 2,200 crore. The Income Tax Department had raided media group Dainik Bhaskar earlier this week. The CBDT said the searches launched on July 22 in Bhopal, Indore, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Noida and a few other cities “are still on and further investigation is in progress”.
“The vast material recovered during the search operation is being investigated,” the CBDT said in a statement. CBDT formulates policies for the Income Tax Department. The name of the group has not been mentioned in the statement. However, official sources have identified the group as Dainik Bhaskar headquartered in Bhopal, which deals in media, energy, textiles, and real estate.
“Around Rs 2,200 crore cyclical turnover and money transactions have been found between the companies of this group engaged in unrelated businesses,” the statement alleged. The investigation has confirmed that the fraudulent transactions were carried out without the actual movement or supply of goods. The tax implications and violations of other rules are being investigated.”
On the day of the raid, the media group had issued a message on its website claiming that the government was scared of its true journalism. Dainik Bhaskar wrote a message on its website, “I am free because I am Bhaskar. The will of the readers will work in Bhaskar. The CBDT in the statement has alleged that the group has more than 100 companies including its own and subsidiaries and they are operating several companies in the name of their employees, which have been used for “fake” expenses.
“During the search, many such employees have admitted that they were not aware of such companies and had given their Aadhaar cards and digital signatures to the employer on trust,” the statement alleged.
