I-T books meat exporter Qureshi under new Black Money Act

In a fresh trouble for controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi, the Income Tax department has booked him under the new and stringent anti-black money law after alleged untaxed foreign assets owned by the businessman and his family were detected by the department.
Officials said the taxman has recently issued fresh notices to Qureshi under the new Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 as probe led the department to few foreign assets owned or held by the meat exporter and his family in an alleged illegal manner as they were not declared or reported to Indian tax authorities.

They said while the department has already filed a complaint (charge sheet) against Qureshi in a local court here in connection with tax evasion case against him and his family it now feels that new revelations in the case qualify to be charged under the new Act.
Sources said Qureshi, who is also facing charges of alleged money laundering and hawala-like dealings and being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, has been asked to explain the alleged foreign bank accounts and assets being held by him and his family following which the I-T department will initiate a fresh prosecution against him under the new law.

The alleged untaxed overseas assets are said to be located in at least four countries including the UK and the Middle East.
Under the new anti-black money law cases of overseas illegal assets, which till recently were probed under the Income Tax Act, 1961, attract a steep 120 per cent tax and penalty on undisclosed foreign assets and income besides carrying a jail term of up to 10 years.

The I-T department had informed the court that one such foreign asset is in the name of his wife.
"Evidence clearly showed that Nasreen Moin Qureshi has not disclosed deposits in JP Morgan Chase Bank in the US for income tax and such deposits represent her undisclosed income, not offered to taxation in returns of income filed by her thereby causing huge loss to revenue," the department had said.

It had alleged that the meat exporter's wife had made false statement in verification in her returns of income filed for the relevant period.
The Qureshi case emerged after the taxman first carried out searches against him and his firm AMQ Group on February 15, 2014.
The meat exporter was recently in news after he left the country from the IGI airport here despite a Look Out Circular (LC) issued by the ED against him.
He subsequently approached a local court here which had stayed till November 16 the LC by ED to detain him at the entry-exit points in India and directed him to appear before the agency on November 22.