Shell cos: Criminal prosecutions filed in 47 cases

Criminal prosecution complaints related to shell companies have been filed in 47 cases, the government said today.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said that enforcement action against shell companies, their operators and associates and various beneficiaries have been taken by the Income Tax department on an ongoing basis.
Such enforcement actions against shell companies -- a term used for entities that have not been carrying out business for long and are allegedly used as conduit for illegal fund flows -- and their associates have been intensified in the recent past.

"Criminal prosecution complaints have been filed in 47 cases," Shukla added.
The government further said that it has also ordered investigation against 57 companies for huge sums deposited in bank accounts and withdrawn in an exceptional manner in post demonetisation.
A task force was constituted in February under the joint chairmanship of Revenue Secretary and Secretary at Ministry of Corporate Affairs to enable the government to wipe out shell companies indulging in illegal activities.

Various departments or agencies are actively sharing the information database on shell companies.
In addition, mandatory linking of Aadhaar with PAN has been initiated by the I-T department in March this year in order to reduce possibilities of fictitious or bogus or dummy persons being made directors of shell companies.

Till November-end, nearly 2.25 lakh companies have been struck-off for remaining inactive for a period of two years or more.