Raids on Lalit hotels group, promoter led to Rs 1,000-cr black foreign assets: CBDT

The Income-Tax Department's searches on the Bharat Hotels group, that runs the chain of Lalit Hotels, has led to the detection of "undisclosed" foreign assets of more than Rs 1,000 crore and huge black money that the business house has "stashed" abroad, the CBDT said on Friday.

While the policy-making body of the department did not take any names in the statement issued after the raids, official sources confirmed it to be the Bharat Hotels Group that functions under its CMD Jyotsna Suri.

"The investigation has successfully lifted the veil, leading to detection of undisclosed foreign assets of more than Rs 1,000 crore, apart from domestic tax evasion of more than Rs 35 crore which may lead to consequences under the Black Money Act, 2015, as also, action under the I-T Act respectively," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.

"Foreign assets include investment in a hotel in UK, immovable properties in UK and UAE and deposits with foreign banks," it said.

The CBDT said the group is a "leading member of the hospitality industry, running a hotel abroad and a chain of luxury hotels under a prominent brand name situated at various locations in India".

"The search operation has so far resulted in seizure of unaccounted assets valued at Rs 24.93 crore that includes Rs. 71.5 lakh in cash, jewellery worth Rs 23 crore and expensive watches valued at Rs 1.2 crore," the statement said.

The department had launched raids at 13 premises of the group, Suri and others on January 19 in and around Delhi.

The Bharat Hotels group owns the chain of Lalit hotels in the country. It runs over a dozen such luxury facilities at present.

Jyotsna Suri has been associated with the Bharat Hotels group since 1989 and took over as the Chairperson and Managing Director (CMD) in 2006, after the death of her husband and hotelier Lalit Suri.