Kolkata: The Income Tax Department, probing a racket that converted illicit money into cryptocurrency, carried out searches at 20 locations across Kolkata, Siliguri, Nashik and Gurugram. Officials detected “hundreds of crores” parked in cryptocurrencies and other virtual digital assets, with funds routed to undisclosed locations.According to sources, investigators followed specific leads on several shell companies that had been booking bogus expenses. While the search operations concluded three days ago, investigations are continuing.
The trail initially revealed unaccounted cash receipts and loans, which later led to large undisclosed investments in real estate projects. Officials also found instances where companies had shown bogus payments towards students’ fees and some of the payments were shown towards TDS too. What surprised them the most was the large amount of payments made to NGOs.Investigators believe the funds were laundered through a network of hawala operators, who converted unaccounted cash into cryptocurrency using layers of companies and individuals. Many transactions were disguised as fake corporate social responsibility (CSR) payments to NGOs, which allegedly returned the money in cash through clandestine channels.Search teams seized incriminating physical and digital evidence. Apart from unaccounted cash and jewellery, bullion was recovered and several bank lockers were placed under prohibitory orders.
