Sonu Sood evaded tax of over ₹20 crore: Income Tax department

The CBDT on Saturday said that actor Sonu Sood and his associates evaded tax of ₹20 crore and claimed that after the Income Tax Department raided him and a linked Lucknow-based infrastructure group it was found that he routed his "unaccounted income in the form of bogus unsecured loans from many bogus entities".

It also accused Sood of violating the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) while raising donations from abroad.

The department had launched searches against the 48-year-old actor and the Lucknow-based group of industries involved in infrastructure on September 15 and the CBDT said the action was continuing.

"During the course of search at the premises of the actor &his associates, incriminating evidence pertaining to tax evasion found. The main modus operandi followed by the actor had been to route his unaccounted income in form of bogus unsecured loans from many bogus entities,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.

"The total amount of tax evaded unearthed so far, amounts to more than ₹20 crore", CBDT said. 

The CBDT said ₹1.8 crore cash has been seized during the raids and 11 lockers have been placed under "prohibitory orders".

I-T department has widened its tax evasion probe against actor Sonu Sood as it raided multiple premises in Mumbai on Friday. 

On Wednesday, the action was carried out in at least half a dozen locations in the metropolitan city and Lucknow.

The actor grabbed the national spotlight for helping migrants reach their home states during the nationwide lockdown clamped last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.