Mumbai: Search by Income tax department Has allegedly disclosed unaccounted deposits of Rs 55 crore and other investments involving two ex-employees Axis MFOther players, including brokers and entry operators. The IT officials also found evidence of alleged illegal remittances by these two entities to foreign tax havens through hawala channels. Finance Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Two former Axis MF employees Viresh Joshi and Deepak Agarwal have been under the lens for their alleged role in front-running. But the IT investigation has overtaken them, although no one has been named in the statement.
According to the release, the tax department on July 28 carried out a “search and seizure operation” on “concerned stockbrokers, intermediaries and entry operators” as well as a former fund manager of Axis MF and principal dealer of equities. The operation covered more than 25 locations, “spreading across Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bhuj and Kolkata”. During the search operation, the IT department found various “incriminating evidence”, including documents and digital data, which were confiscated. “The modus operandi has been revealed from the sworn statements of various persons including the evidence collected during the search,” the release said.
In mid-May, an internal investigation by Axis MF revealed that both were involved in illegal transactions, both were sacked and the fund house alerted SEBI. The regulator is also probing the activities of both. The accused dealers and fund managers used to share specific business related information with touts, intermediaries and individuals located abroad. These people used those tactics to illegally profit from the stock market.
“These persons, including the family members of the fund manager, have admitted in their statements that the unaccounted cash arising out of the above operations was remitted to their bank accounts mainly through shell entities based in Kolkata. From these bank accounts, funds have been further transferred,” the release said.
Two former Axis MF employees Viresh Joshi and Deepak Agarwal have been under the lens for their alleged role in front-running. But the IT investigation has overtaken them, although no one has been named in the statement.
According to the release, the tax department on July 28 carried out a “search and seizure operation” on “concerned stockbrokers, intermediaries and entry operators” as well as a former fund manager of Axis MF and principal dealer of equities. The operation covered more than 25 locations, “spreading across Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bhuj and Kolkata”. During the search operation, the IT department found various “incriminating evidence”, including documents and digital data, which were confiscated. “The modus operandi has been revealed from the sworn statements of various persons including the evidence collected during the search,” the release said.
In mid-May, an internal investigation by Axis MF revealed that both were involved in illegal transactions, both were sacked and the fund house alerted SEBI. The regulator is also probing the activities of both. The accused dealers and fund managers used to share specific business related information with touts, intermediaries and individuals located abroad. These people used those tactics to illegally profit from the stock market.
“These persons, including the family members of the fund manager, have admitted in their statements that the unaccounted cash arising out of the above operations was remitted to their bank accounts mainly through shell entities based in Kolkata. From these bank accounts, funds have been further transferred,” the release said.