`13,860 cr declared not mine, says Gujarat dealer

Ahmedabad, Dec. 3: Property dealer Mahesh Shah, who had declared a whopping `13,860 crore of undisclosed wealth under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), on Saturday appeared on a television show claiming that the money did not belong to him, only to be held by Income Tax officials for questioning.

Shah’s disclosure under the Centre’s IDS, which ended in September, accounts for over 20 per cent of the total `65,000 crore declared under the scheme.

The city-based property dealer, who was missing since I-T department raided his residence earlier this week, appeared in the studios of a Gujarati television channel here and said he had made the declaration under his name out of “compulsion” and to “earn commission”.

“The amount of `13,860 crore that I declared under IDS was not mine, I will tell the names of those behind it before Income Tax officials,” Shah said, adding that he “made the declaration out of compulsion and to earn commission.” Income Tax searches were conducted on the office and residential premises of Shah on November 29, 30 and December 1 after he failed to pay first installment of tax — `1,560 crore — on the whopping declaration of `13,860 crore under the IDS.

“Those whose money was disclosed under IDS backed out at the last moment, so I could not pay the first installment of tax to the Income Tax department,” he said.

“I will expose everything soon. I have committed a mistake but I will reveal everything soon,” Shah said. No sooner did Shah appear on the channel making the dramatic claim, he was taken away for questioning by I-T sleuths from the office of the local channel for questioning in presence of Sarkhej police officials.