A fleet of luxury cars were recovered from Shivam Mishra's Delhi home.
A Rolls Royce, a Porsche, a Lamborghini - all bear '4018' on the licence plates and in front of them poses a man with the flamboyance of Hrithik Roshan's character in a hit song from 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'. He is Shivam Mishra, the scion of a tobacco company at the centre of multi-state raids by the income tax department.
The Income Tax department executed a series of raids on Banshidhar Tobacco Company, unearthing a complex web of financial manipulations that extend across various states and even overseas. The raids, spanning 20 locations including Kanpur, Delhi, Mumbai, and Gujarat, have exposed alleged discrepancies in the company's reported turnover, with sources revealing a staggering difference between the declared income and the actual turnover.
Fifteen to 20 teams carried out raids across five states, metaphorically shaking down every tobacco leaf linked to Banshidhar Tobacco Company, to stumble upon a treasure trove of luxury cars worth a staggering Rs 50 crore; among them, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, priced at a cool Rs 16 crore, found at Shivam Mishra's home in Delhi's Vasant Vihar.
Other luxury cars recovered from Shivam Mishra's home were a McLaren, a Porsche, and a Lamborghini. The IT teams have reportedly confiscated Rs 4.5 crores in cash during the raids, along with several documents.
The epicentre of the scandal is KK Mishra, the patriarch of the tobacco business. Banshidhar Tobacco Private Limited is a big player in the tobacco industry and is known for supplying products to major pan masala groups. Reports suggest that the company has a declared income of Rs 20 to 25 crore when the actual turnover was pegged at Rs 100-150 crore.
The raids have revealed that the company has not only evaded Income tax laws but also violated Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules.