23 kg gold, Rs 17 cr cash, 600 kg sandalwood found on Piyush Jain’s premises
Businessman remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody
KANPUR: Following 80 hours of search at four houses of businessman Piyush Jain in Kannauj, a team of officials found 23 kg gold, Rs 17 crore cash and 600 kg sandalwood illegally procured and stored in one of the premises, the Directorate of GST Intelligence (DGGI) said in a statement on Monday. The sandalwood was worth Rs 6 crore.
The development came on a day on which the court of the metropolitan magistrate (corporation), Kanpur, remanded Piyush Jain in 14 days’ judicial custody after rejecting the Central GST’s plea for his remand.
The fresh recovery in Kannauj is in addition to the Rs 177.45 crore that the Central GST, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and Income-Tax department found between December 23 and 24 in Kanpur.
DGGI has roped in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for further investigation as the gold recovered has foreign markings, it said.
The Central GST informed the court where Piyush Jain was produced following his arrest that the search was continuing in Kannauj. Central GST also informed the court that it wanted to produce Piyush in CGST court in Ahmedabad.
DGGI has said Piyush Jain has confessed the cash recovered from his house was related to the sale of goods without paying GST. His statement has been recorded under Section 70 of CGST Act.
“The evidence is overwhelming to show that massive tax evasion by Piyush Jain and his Odochem Industries,” it said.
Central GST team arrested Piyush Jain on charges of tax evasion on Sunday under Section 69 of the CGST Act and acted as per provisions under 132 (1a). Piyush Jain’s lawyer Subodh Malviya said he has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
The lawyer has filed an application with CGST, informing them that the Jains are ready to pay the penalty that accrues to around Rs 52 crore. During the hearing, Malviya informed the court that Jain should be released on this ground. On the other hand, the public prosecutor told the court that searches on Jain’s premises in Kannauj were going on and the teams have recovered gold from there.
After his arrest on Sunday,
Piyush Jain was taken to the CGST office for questioning in the Sarvodaya Nagar area of Kanpur.
Later at night, he was taken to
the Kakadeo police station, also in Kanpur, where he spent the night lying on the floor in the ‘helpline’ section of the premises.