Mahesh Shah, a Ahmedabad-based real estate broker, is giving sleepless nights to people in Gujarat and outside, as he is reported to have submitted a list of individuals - the real faces behind the ₹13,860-crore worth of black money, which he declared under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) for an undisclosed commission.
After his dramatic emergence at a TV news channel studio in Ahmedabad, Shah made explosive revelation that he was merely a 'front man' and the money belonged to ‘a mix of big people like businessmen, politicians and officers’.
“What I did was wrong. But I was in need of money. I did this for commission. All this is not my money. I will name all those who owned these amounts. The total amount could further go up. I will share all names with the I-T Department. But I am worried about peace and safety of my family," said Shah at a live televised interview on Saturday evening. The money is understood to be stored in multiple cities across the India.
“I am not a fugitive. My family doesn’t know anything related to my work," he said, adding "
Shah, 67, had gone missing since the Income-Tax Department raided his house and office in Ahmedabad on November 29 and 30. He claimed he stayed in Mumbai at a relative’s place and had directly rushed to the TV studio in Ahmedabad on Saturday to put his case before the public.
Caught off-guard, the I-T officials swung into action soon after Shah started revealing sensitive information on the regional channel and took custody of him later.
Sources revealed that Shah was interrogated for roughly 10-12 hours before he was allowed to go home on Sunday morning. In the meanwhile, he reportedly submitted a long list of individuals from Ahmedabad and outside Gujarat with different occupational background to the tax department.
“He was allowed for some rest and was provided medical assistance for his needs," an I-T official stated.
In the TV interview, Shah had claimed that he wanted to pay the first instalment by the last date, but some of the people, who owned the money, backed off and complicated the things. The I-T Department had cancelled his IDS Form-2 on November 28, two days before the last day of payment of first instalment of the tax dues.
Shah's CA, Tehmul Sethna of Apaji Amin & Co LLP in Ahmedabad claimed that Shah had made a disclosure of ₹13,860 crore cash and, as per the IDS scheme, he had to pay ₹1,560 crore as the first instalment or 25 per cent of the total payable tax to the I-T Department by November 30.