Nitin Gadkari probe reveals ‘directors’ didn’t know they owned firms

Mumbai : Preliminary probe by the Income Tax investigation wing into shell companies behind Nitin Gadkari’s Purti Power and Sugar Limited is complete with the Mumbai wing confirming that the directors are “men of no means”. The report now has been forwarded to the Pune office of Income Tax where the investigation continues.

Eighteen shell companies, with addresses in Mumbai were under scanner after media reports showed that the identities were fictitious. “We went to all the 18 locations which were shown as addresses of the shell companies. The inquiry showed that not more than a few thousands were shown as capital at the time they were founded in Mumbai,” said a senior I-T official.

The probe found that the companies remained floated for sufficient amount of time, before it was purchased by new investors based in Nagpur and Kolkata. “Reports have also been sent to other relevant I-T wings as the second layer of investors will now be questioned. Many of them have no connection to the business shown behind these shell companies,” said the official.

“The teams found there was no introduction of money in these companies at the initial stages, and definitely not while they were still local companies in Mumbai,” said an officer. The statements of a dozen directors have been included. “In some cases they did not even know that they were directors. They had no knowledge they owned a company,” the official said.