Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. The Income Tax Department has sought to prosecute Anil Ambani of Reliance Group Chairman under the Black Money Act. The IT Department has accused Anil of evading tax to the tune of Rs 420 crore on undisclosed money of over Rs 814 crore kept in two Swiss bank accounts. The Income Tax Department has said that Ambani (63) intentionally did not inform Indian tax officials about his foreign bank accounts and financial interest. In this context, Ambani was issued a show cause notice earlier this month.

The department alleged that Ambani failed to disclose these foreign assets in his Income Tax Return (ITR) filings. They have violated the provisions of the Black Money Act brought by the Modi government soon after it came to power for the first time in 2014. Tax officials said that this was done intentionally by Anil Ambani.

Could face 10 years with fine

The department said that junior Ambani can be tried under sections 50 and 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Tax Act 2015, which provides for a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment with fine. Anil has been asked to reply on the allegations by August 31. However, till now there has been no response from Anil Ambani and his office on these allegations.

Accused of possessing undeclared assets abroad

Anil Ambani has been accused of having undeclared assets abroad and evading tax through it for the assessment year 2012-13 to 2019-20. According to the notice, the tax officials found that Ambani was a beneficial owner as well as an economic contributor to the Bahamas-based entity 'Diamond Trust' and another company, Northern Atlantic Trading Unlimited (NATU). NATU was incorporated into the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Created a company named Dreamwork Holdings

In the case of Bahamas Trust, the department found that they owned a company called Dreamworks Holdings Inc. The firm was the owner of a Swiss bank account with a maximum balance of more than Rs 255 crore (US$ 32 million) as on 31 December 2007. The notice said the trust had received initial funding of around Rs 200 crore ($25,040,422).

Fund sourced from Ambani's personal account

The department alleged that funding was made in the account of this company from Ambani's personal account. It was also found that Ambani had given his passport as a KYC document to open this trust in 2006. The beneficiaries of this trust were also his family members.