Birla case: I-T probes allege Rs 203-cr undisclosed income

Aditya Birla Management Corporation has received cash from certain group companies through hawala operators in Delhi, say investigators

An income tax (IT) probe has reportedly found undisclosed income of Rs 203 crore in the hands of different people associated with the Aditya Birla Group, which had allegedly used the hawala route to transfer an undisclosed sum of money. The development comes months after the seizure of Rs 25 crore in one of the offices of the Aditya Birla Group here in October 2013.

According to a report filed by the additional director of income tax (investigation), Aditya Birla Management Corporation (ABMCPL) has received cash from certain companies of the group through hawala operators in Delhi. However, the report does not say for what purpose the money was used for.

The I-T investigation says the company's deputy general manager (accounts) Anand Kumar Saxena has admitted "that the unaccounted cash used to be received by him at the office premises of ABMCPL through various angadias (hawala operators)". The probe puts the undisclosed income at Rs 203.18 crore in the hands of different persons.

When contacted, the company said: "In some quarters of the media, reports have been quoted totally out of context."

The company said the group had already made it clear through its press release on October 17, 2013 that it was both "taken aback" and "concerned" about the money seized in one of the group company's premises. "We are aware that some employees of the group company's Delhi office have been questioned by the investigating agency. We are not privy to what they have stated to the investigating agency, which has been reported in one of the newspapers. Therefore, we would not wish to comment at this stage," it said.

It added that the company would continue to extend full cooperation to the agencies as and when required.

Acting on a tip-off from the Central Bureau of Investigation, which was probing the allocation of coal blocks to Birla's Hindalco Industries, the I-T department had carried out search at ABMCPL's office here on October 16, 2013 and claimed to have recovered Rs 25 crore in cash and a number of "incriminating" documents.

The I-T report said group executive president Shubhendu Amitabh owned up the cash, saying he was carrying out money lending and real estate financing activities in his personal capacity.

He offered to disclose Rs 55.73 crore income, but the I-T report said he had "not come out with complete truth and has been evasive with regard to some of the relevant transactions and has sought to explain the same by taking refuse under the alibi of his alleged money lending and real estate financing activities."

Saxena, it said, was "the in-charge of keeping accounts for ABMCPL and the custodian of the unaccounted cash handled at the office premises of ABMCPL". ABMPCL claimed the transactions pertained to Amitabh.

The probe says a local hawala operator had admitted that he used to deliver cash to Saxena after receiving it from Mumbai.

Of the Rs 203 crore undisclosed income, Rs 55.73 crore was attributed to Amitabh for financial years from 2007-08 to 2013-14, while Rs 34.63 crore was related to Sunbeam Trading & Investments for four years beginning 2007-08. Another Rs 1.73 crore was attributed to one Vijay Mundhra.