Virendra Singh Rawat / Lucknow
The cash haul of Rs 197 crore recovered from Kanpur-based perfumery manufacturer and trader Peeyush Jain has been kept in the custody of State Bank of India (SBI), the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) said on Thursday.
The DGGI also refuted media reports, which suggested the deposit of tax dues by Jain’s firm Odochem Industries from the seized money to discharge their tax liabilities. Terming these reports as “speculative,” the DG maintained the tax liability was yet to be determined.
In the ongoing investigations by the DGGI in the case of Kannauj-based Odochem Industries, a manufacturer of perfumery compounds, and proprietor Jain, cash worth Rs 197.49 crore and 23 kg of gold, apart from “offending goods” of high value, have so far been recovered.
According to media reports, the DGGI had decided to treat the cash as the turnover of the manufacturing unit. This has now been denied by the DG. In fact, some reports said that after admitting his liability, Jain, with the DGGI approval, had deposited Rs 52 crore as tax dues.
“These reports are purely speculative, without any basis and seek to undermine the integrity of the ongoing investigations which are being carried out in a most professional manner based on specific intelligence against the party,” a DGGI statement underlined here.
The seized cash has been kept as case property in the custody of the SBI pending further investigations.
The voluntary submissions by Jain are a subject matter of ongoing probe and any view on the source of cash and the tax liabilities shall be taken on the basis of appraisal of evidence, it said.
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Following the admission of guilt and the evidence on record, Jain was arrested on December 26 under section 132 of the CGST Act. On Dec 27, he was produced before the court, which remanded him to 14 days judicial custody.