Bengaluru: The Directorate of Income Tax (Investigation), Karnataka & Goa, has reportedly unearthed “admission of concealed” income exceeding Rs 650 crore during the search and seizure operations at the multiple locations of business tycoon V.G. Siddhartha, who is also the son-in-law of former Congress chief minister and now BJP leader S.M. Krishna.
The Directorate had on September 21 launched the search operations at 25 locations linked with Mr Siddhartha in Karnataka, Chennai and Mumbai. According to official sources, the raids against the group, which is involved in “coffee, tourism, information technology and other areas concluded with an admission of previously concealed income exceeding Rs 650 crore. The detection of undisclosed income is expected to be a much higher.”
Besides the alleged admission of over Rs 650 crore concealed income, the Income Tax officials also unearthed a “number of other issues including violations of other statutes on which there is no disclosure, but relevant evidence has been found. These will be effectively pursued,” said an officer on condition of anonymity. Tax officials had raided Mr Siddhartha’s business premises in Bengaluru, Hassan, Mumbai, Chennai and Chikkmagaluru for alleged tax evasion and concealment of taxable income. A first generation entrepreneur, Mr Siddhartha had founded Cafe Coffee Day with its first cafe on Brigade Road in Bengaluru in 1996.
Today, the chain with 1,530 outlets in 29 states in the country claims to have the largest footprint of coffee cafes in the country. He had founded Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd in 1992 and has been its Chairman and Managing Director since January 2015. Mr Siddhartha and his family own 10,000 acres of coffee plantations in Chikkamagaluru.
