At this time, a very shocking news has come out which is creating a stir in the Indian economy and financial corridors. The Income Tax Department of the country has busted a very big and well-planned fraud in sending foreign currency. According to recent investigation reports, a huge amount of around Rs 1.29 lakh crore has been silently sent abroad from India. In this illegal or suspicious financial misappropriation, the names of many such new and suspicious institutions of the country are included whose business was either zero or very minor, but through them huge money of the country was transferred abroad. After this revelation, the central agencies and the Finance Ministry have become completely alert and this entire network is being investigated in depth.
In which countries did the most money go?
According to the data collected by the investigating agencies, a large part of this total fund of Rs 1.29 lakh crore sent out of India, i.e. about 72.3 percent, has been dumped in selected countries of the world. Countries like Singapore, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong, Mauritius and China are prominently included in this list. Among these countries also, the maximum amount of money has been sent to Singapore, where around Rs 41,885 crore has been transferred alone. Apart from this, an amount of Rs 18,331 crore has been sent to UAE and more than Rs 18,064 crore has been sent to Hong Kong. Strong evidence has also been found of large-scale financial transactions being carried out through countries like Mauritius and China, which has given tax officials sleepless nights.
6,422 new and suspicious entities on radar
Initial and thorough investigation by the Income Tax Department has revealed that a total of 6,422 new entities have been used to carry out this entire game. Of these, initially the process of strict legal action has been started against 394 major firms and companies. Apart from this, about 83 such entities with foreign addresses have been identified through which alone Rs 36,175 crore was sent out of the country. The ownership of all these companies, their business models, their actual business activities and patterns of cross-border transactions are being closely investigated to clarify who was the real owner of this money and for what purpose it was sent out.
Speed of fund transfer and strange excuses
The biggest matter of concern for tax and revenue department officials is the speed of sending money. During the first half of the current financial year alone, approximately Rs 43,048 crore has been sent abroad, which is about 78 percent of the total figure for the entire previous financial year. When these companies were asked the reason for sending money abroad, they made very strange and paper-based excuses. The investigation revealed that approximately Rs 44,474 crore was shown as 'Long-Term Capital Gain' (LTCG), while Rs 27,128 crore was transferred abroad in the name of 'Other Income' and approximately Rs 16,423 crore was transferred abroad in the name of 'Freight Charges'.
Pressure on rupee and concerns of Reserve Bank of India
This entire development has come to light at a time when the Indian Rupee is facing continuous pressure in the foreign exchange market. To stop this weakness of the rupee and its continuous decline against the US dollar, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has to continuously intervene in the market and sell dollars. At such a critical time, such a large-scale silent outflow of capital from within the country can pose a major threat to the macro-economic balance of the Indian economy. However, joint teams of the Finance Ministry, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department are trying to find out whether this is a case of tax evasion or a huge international conspiracy of money laundering.