Income Tax Department of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday carried out searches at 22 premises in Coimbatore, Erode, Chennai, and Namakkal on a group engaged in the running of educational institutions and their associates, including a civil contractor. The search was carried based on the information that fees collected from students were not fully accounted for in the regular books of accounts.

During the search, it is revealed that the accusations regarding suppression of fees received are true and the unaccounted receipts are siphoned off to the personal accounts of the trustees, which in turn are invested in real estate through a company. 

In the official statement, it is revealed that - "The other shareholders of the company, i.e., an architect from Tirupur and a textile businessman were also covered.  Electronic devices seized during the course of the search were being examined. During the searches in the case of the civil contractors from Namakkal, inflation of expenditure by booking false expenses under labor charges, material purchase, etc. has been found.” The search has led to the identification of unaccounted investments and on-money payments to the extent of around Rs 150 crore.

"Cash amounting to Rs 5 crore has been seized. Some lockers are yet to be operated. Search is still going on," said the Ministry. 

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