CHENNAI: The Income Tax department has seized valuables worth Rs 93 crore following its searches on 40 premises belonging to ‘wellness guru’ and self-styled godman Kalki Bhagwan. Searches were conducted on properties belonging to the godman and his son, in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Varadaiahpalem in Andhra Pradesh. An IT spokesperson said the department had found undisclosed income totalling a whopping Rs 500 crore in the godman’s possession. Searches are still on in AP, Chennai and Bengaluru.
According to the department, huge quantities of cash and other valuables were found at the residences of Kalki, his son, and at one of their campuses. Cash totalling Rs 43.9 crore has been seized from these premises. Apart from that, substantial sums of foreign currencies have also been seized. Total value of such foreign exchange found on these premises is about 2.5 million USD which comes to nearly Rs 18 crore. Foreign exchange in other currencies have also been seized.
About 88 kg of gold jewellery, valued at over Rs 26 crore, and undisclosed number of diamonds totalling 1,271 carats, valued nearly at about Rs 5 crore were seized. During the searches, evidence was found that the group has been regularly suppressing its receipts at its various centres or ashrams. Evidence has been found with key employees who maintained a record of cash collections that were kept outside the account's investments elsewhere.
‘Investments made in overseas firms; funds came from foreign clients’
It has learnt that the group also earned unaccounted income in the form of cash from property sales over and above documented values. A preliminary estimate of such unaccounted cash receipts is Rs 409 crore from FY 2014-15 onwards, the release said. The department said that the group had been investing in several companies in India and abroad, including in tax havens. Some of these companies based in China, USA, Singapore and UAE are found to be receiving payments from foreign clients who attend various residential “wellness” courses offered in India.
The department is investigating diversion of income taxable in India to offshore entities by the group. Further, it is found that one of the group trusts may be providing accommodation entries for other persons by receiving donations from them and then returning the money after showing a certain sum as expenses and also receiving a small percentage as fee.
Instances have also been found where the group is not accounting for money received from foreign clients in cash in foreign currency and then exchanging the same in the grey market. The group is presently managed and controlled by the spiritual leader. The group earns substantial receipts in foreign exchange. On Friday, the office of Kalki Bhagawan said in a statement," For the past two days, there has been an I-T raid... For any developing organisation the government keeps track to ensure the functioning is under legal terms.
It is only on those terms that there has been an investigation in the above mentioned places. Bhagavad Dharma respects our nation's laws and if our government finds any activity is not as per the law, then we will abide by the government and face it legally. For the past two days, various news angles of the I-T raids have spread through media, but they are not true. We thank those who attempted to report the situation from close quarters. Our programmes are being conducted in Nemam, Ekam, Satyaloka and Natham, and we would like all the devotees to participate in it," a statement from Wellness Guru's office said.
Routine probe, says Kalki office
“For developing organisations, the govt keeps track to ensure the functioning is under legal terms. It is only on those terms that there has been an investigation,” claimed a statement from Kalki’s office