A total of Rs 197.49 crore in cash, 23 kg of gold and some other valuable “objectionable articles” have been recovered during searches at Jain’s premises, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence Unit (DGGI) said in a statement issued on Thursday. The seizures have been made from the premises of Odochem Industries, a company that manufactures aromatic products. Jain is the promoter of this company.
After the recovery of such a huge amount of unaccounted cash, some media reports said that the GST department may consider it as Jain’s business and decide to allow one-fourth of it to be paid as tax.
But the DGGI denied these reports and said that the voluntary statement of the accused is still being probed and the exact status of the liability on him will be known only after investigation. Terming these reports as baseless and speculation, he said, “The entire amount seized during the search has been deposited with the State Bank of India.”
DGGI said, “No outstanding tax has been paid by M/s Odochem Industries out of the seized amount. The tax liability is yet to be determined.”
He did not give details of the information given by Jain and said that the voluntary statement is the subject of ongoing investigation and the decision of the source of the seized cash and tax liability will depend on the examination of the evidence found during the search. He said that he was arrested on the basis of Jain admitting his mistake and available evidence.
After his arrest at the hands of the GST department, Jain was produced in a Kanpur court on December 27 from where he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
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