Income Tax officials seized ₹17 crore in cash, some of it in foreign currency, 10 kg of gold ornaments and a large number of property documents from the premises of Christy Friedgram Industry and the Agni Group of Companies, sources in the investigating wing said on Sunday.
The raids that started early on Friday at 70 locations across Tamil Nadu temporarily concluded on Sunday night. The operation was based on specific information of tax evasion involving the two companies.
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According to sources, the businessmen could not account for the cash seized and explain the source of the foreign currency. Possession of foreign currency beyond the permissible limits is an offence under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
A large number of documents pertaining to immovable assets in suspected benami names were seized from some offices of the food supplier in Erode, Namakkal and Chennai.
Investigators also took possession of electronic storage devices and laptops. In one of the offices near Tiruchengode, an employee of the firm tried to escape by jumping from the first floor of the office building and suffered an injury, the sources said.
Christy Friedgram Industry is a major supplier of food to the nutritious meal programme in Tamil Nadu that is catering to the needs of a few lakh schoolchildren.
The Income Tax department also conducted searches on the office and residential premises of M. Sudha Devi, Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.
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