Tribunal upholds I-T attaching 900 accounts in Buldana Coop case

Finding merit in the Income-Tax department's case against alleged irregularities at Buldana Urban Cooperative Credit Society Ltd, an appellate tribunal under Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) recently upheld the attachment of around 900 suspicious bank accounts.

The accounts were attached under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act (PBPTA) by the Nagpur unit during the course of its investigation and the same were confirmed by the adjudicating authority (AA).

The search operation by the department had allegedly revealed suspicious deposits in numerous accounts at the cooperative society. Funds of over ₹52 crore were found to be connected to PWD contracts.

The society came under I-T scanner during an investigation of its loan to a Nanded-based sugar mill connected with former chief minister Ashok Chavan. He had denied the allegations and said all banking norms were followed. Chavan, a former Congress leader, joined the BJP in 2024.

The probe had found that 900 accounts were opened; of this 718 were newly opened non-PAN accounts, 53 old inactive accounts, 118 non-PAN accounts in another branch. The deposits in these accounts followed suspicious patterns structured to keep individual transactions below ₹2 lakh The probe further revealed that the beneficiary of the amount deposited is one SAMRAT.

In September , 2021, the department carried out a search and survey action on premises linked to builders Prashant Nilawar and Jayant Hiralal Shah, who were alleged to be acting as middlemen/liaison in the Public Works Department (PWD) of Maharashtra. Both of them run business of real estate and construction in the name of M/s Rucha Group and M/s Jairaj Group. "The modus operandi of cash collection from HAM works and transfer and posting of officers/engineers of PWD was unearthed in the search. The benami cash transaction of ₹52.19 crore was found with the co-operative society," the I-T had contented. "The document/summary sheet was found stored in the photo gallery of iPhone found in the custody of CA Shri Nilesh Toshniwal."