Hyderabad: Income tax (I-T) department officials on Thursday raided 14 premises of chit funds and private agencies, all reportedly belonging to relatives and friends of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath, to check for tax evasion and irregularities in I-T return filings.
Sources said that upon learning of potential irregularities, I-T teams were brought in from Bengaluru and Odisha, with CISF personnel deployed to provide security during the raids. 40 teams were dispatched to Ameerpet, Yellareddyguda, Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, KPHB and Shamshabad, among other areas.
In Ameerpet, the office premises of Pooja Krishna Chit Fund India Private Limited and the residences of its directors Somepalli Naga Rajeswari, Krishna Prasad Doppalapudi and Pooja Lakshmi Doppalapudi were raided. I-T officials suspect the company allegedly avoided paying taxes by transacting in cash.
Another team raided the office of Jeevan Shakti Chit Fund Private Ltd. (JSCFPL) in Ameerpet and the residences of firm directors Gutta Venkateswara Rao and Katragadda Ramesh. Ramesh is involved in several business activities in the city.
Sources said that both the chit fund companies, and a third identified as Hasini Distributors Private Limited, were all registered at the same address in Yellareddyguda.
In KPHB, raids were conducted on the premises of Indu Aranya and Fortune, with documents and individual transactions of one Arikepudi Koteswara Rao coming under the scanner.
A palatial residence belonging to one Raghuram, who is involved in multiple chit funds and finance companies, was also raided. Sources said that the officials were taken aback by the sheer magnitude of the residence and they collected documents of businesses, I-T return filings and bank accounts of the past few years.
