Ahmedabad based businessman Mahesh Shah, who had made a disclosure of Rs 13,860 crore of cash under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) in October has gone missing.
The 45-year-old businessman had to pay 25 per cent on the disclosed income as penalty on 30 November, the deadline for paying the penalty under the amnesty period. The IDS scheme was closed on September 30.
Shah was a land dealer and his chartered accountant, Tehmul Sethna, who had helped him in the income disclosures, also faced search inquiries from the I-T department.
Sethna, however, now claims that he never filed tax returns for Shah and that he knew him well because they had kept in touch after their first meeting in 2013.
Sethna said that he had spoken to Shah on 29 November but hasn't spoken to him after that.
Meanwhile, I-T searches were conducted on the office and residential premises of Shah.
Sethna, who is also facing the I-T heat in the matter, informed that searches carried out various places, including on the premises of those connected with his client Shah’s friends.
The search operations were conducted on November 29, 30 and December 1, Sethna said.
According to him, Shah is untraceable after these searches.
