Income-tax officials on Thursday claimed to have detected documents revealing unaccounted wealth of around Rs 11 crore during their searches at the properties of actress Priyanka Chopra and photographer Atul Kasbekar. Documents seized during searches at the office and homes of the two celebrities have reportedly revealed a total unaccounted income of around Rs 11 crore.
Priyanka and her father, Dr Ashok Chopra, have reportedly concealed income of Rs 7.5 crore, while Kasbekar, who runs event management firm Blink, did not reveal the details of his Rs 4-crore earnings. The I-T department has been conducting searches on the premises of Kasbekar, Priyanka and Katrina Kaif, but all three have denied having any “concealed” wealth.
The department has not found any cash at any of the premises. “It was a surprise for us as we believed the film sector is still dependent on the cash component. Actors are mostly paid in cash. , be it for ads or appearances at parties. Still, it is too early to say anything as investigations are still going on and we are yet to open the sealed lockers of Priyanka, Kasbekar and Katrina Kaif,” an I-T official said.
The officials have so far found that Priyanka owns nine flats, including five apartments in Raj Classic on Yari Road. There, she had turned three flats into one and interconnected another two, a source added. She The income-tax officials, who took a little longer to finish the search in Priyanka’s properties, has reportedly concealed about Rs 6-crore income and her father, about Rs 1.5 crore. But spokesperson for the actress said, “We deny the malicious rumours doing the rounds spread in the media on the basis of some unidentified sources. We are cooperating with the I-T authorities. on their ongoing investigations and are We decline to comment now.”
The celebrities under the scanner, including Katrina, however, continue to deny having unaccounted for wealth.
While IT sources insist that the unaccounted sum of Rs 11 crore from the celebrities all the three of them continue to deny it. After going through media reports of her “concealed” income of Rs 6 crore, Katrina’s CA clarified on Tuesday: “My client is disturbed by speculative reports in the media that she has disclosed unaccounted income running into several crores and unaccounted lockers were found. The fact is no unaccounted income has been declared by Katrina.”
Kasbekar, who was associated with Matrix (celebrity management agency) that handled Katrina’s account as well, is upset. “The allegation that Rs 4 crore was found at my home is false and I deny it completely. It can be verified by senior I-T investigating officers. of the income tax department. For the record, as an ad photographer, no client will ever pay me in cash and nor do I ever encourage that practice. No client at Bling works on cash payments. All our transactions are usually accompanied by long-term contracts and they are always official. I am not associated with Matrix, I left the company in 2006.” Atul stays at Ashok Tower in Parel.
