Update at 6.30 PM: Among those arrested along with Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) B B Rajendra Prasad, are Pradip Mittal, Managing Director of Essar Group of Companies, Shreyas Parikh, chartered accountant working with G.K.Choksi, realtor Suresh Kumar Jain and his relative Manish Jain, reports IANS.
Based on a tip-off, the CBI laid a trap for Prasad and nabbed him when he was receiving Rs 19.3 lakh from Suresh Kumar Jain.
Original story:
In yet another instance of cracking down on corruption in high places, the Central government arrested a high-ranking income tax official in Mumbai on Wednesday and recovered cash from him. While some reports put the seizure at Rs 1.5 crore, others said it was Rs 16 lakh.
B B Rajendra Prasad, Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), was arrested along with five others from a body corporate in connection with a tax declaration case.
Prasad was arrested even as he accepted the illicit amount from the complainant (the body corporate) in the city. He is expected to be produced in the CBI Court by afternoon.
In another move, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that it has arrested a director of a real estate on charges of money-laundering.
ED arrests Vijay Choudhary, Director of Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd. under PMLA in bank fraud case.
— ED (@dir_ed) May 3, 2017
Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd.(ZDPL) director Vijay Choudary's arrest comes almost five months after the ED attached land, shares and fixed deposits worth Rs 32 crore of the company. The land holdings were located in Bengaluru, Indore, Mumbai and Raigad. Indian banks reportedly incurred losses of around Rs 967 crore due to the company's alleged misdemenours. The total value of the company's assets attached stood at Rs 132 crore.
ED attaches assets worth Rs 32 crores of Zoom Developers, Indore, in Bank Fraud Case. Total attachment in the case now is 132 Crores.
— ED (@dir_ed) January 17, 2017
ZDPL owes approximately Rs 3,000 crore to a consortium of banks led by state-owned lender Punjab National Bank. In January this year, the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) dismissed an appeal by the company, clearinh hurdles in the way of sale of its mortgaged assets.
The loans, given to ZDPL between 2005 and 2009 turned non-performing assets (NPAs) in the latter half of calendar year 2010.
The company's assets in California were valued at about Rs 1,000 crore, according to a report in the Economic Times.
