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| 28 top politicians, Bollywood financier under watch | | Ali's flamboyant lifestyle triggered suspicions | | NEW DELHI | MARCH 9
Men of the Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate have been set in motion, with orders from the "top" to uncover "truth, the whole truth" following the revelation vis-a-vis the unaccounted wealth of Hasan Ali, a Pune-based businessman. The seizure is reportedly valued Rs 35,000 crores. The killer haul is reason enough to keep the taxmen busy for some time to come.
The real clincher could be whether Hasan Ali was a front for murkier deals like Hawala, invloving bigger interests. According to reports doing rounds here on Friday, the Enforcement Directorate has zeroed in on as many as 28 top politicians, three big corporate personalities and a renowned Bollywood financer. Income Tax department sleuths claim to have netted racehorse owner, Hasan Ali, who could well turn out to be India's fourth richest man.
The Enforcement Directorate is now waiting for Ali's account details from the Swiss Bank to finally nail him. Unaccounted wealth worth Rs 35,000 crore, 10 Swiss bank accounts, prime property in metro cities, stud farms and Hawala connection. And what started out as a random scrutiny by the Income Tax department is turning out to be perhaps the biggest case in the history of India's I-T investigations.
Their names were reportedly found in the hard disk of Hasan Ali's computer. The disk also reportedly has information about the money trail. Reports said that one of the first persons to be questioned was Kashinath Tapadia, son-in-law of the late Priyamvada Birla of the Birla business house.Kashinath is believed to be the interface between the businessmen and Ali in the Hawala racket.
Known for his affluence and interest in breeding thoroughbred horses, Ali was questioned after the raid on his premises across Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabdad and Bangalore. However, the taxmen failed to procure documents and necessary warrants to arrest him. Hasan Ali now seems to have gone underground.
AK Sinha, spokesperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes, has been quoted as saying: "It is confirmed that the search was conducted by the I-T department at Mumbai and Pune on a person associated with stud farms and horse race about two months back and indications of certain foreign accounts were found during the search. At this stage, it is not possible to confirm the quantum of evasion as the matter is still under investigation".
How was Hasan Ali caught? It was his flamboyant lifestyle which made the I-T department suspicious. Though his declared income was in lakhs, the bungalow in Pune alone cost around Rs 10 crore. Government sleuths have reportedly found on Ali's computer details of transactions totalling Rs 35,000 crores through 10 Swiss bank accounts.
An Enforcement Directgorate team was sent to Switzerland between January 15 and 19 this year. Details of seven out of the 10 accounts found matching and the government of India asked for the accounts to be frozen. Hasan Ali's net allegedly spreads across India, Middle East and Saudi Arabia. Yet another allegation: Ali acts as a middleman to route money for some top political leaders, businessmen and bureaucrats.
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