Income Tax department officials recovered Rs 19 crore in cash, receipts of fixed deposits, and National Savings Certificates (NSCs) worth Rs 60 lakh on Tuesday. The recovery was made during raids at premises of two stock market entry providers Jignesh Shah and Sanjay Shah. The cash was stored in cupboards at the Paldi residence of Jignesh Shah. I-T officials are investigating the matter now. This is the highest amount of cash seized by the department in its raids in the state, claim officials. Amit Jain, Director General of Investigation, Income Tax Department, Ahmedabad, informed that a team of I-T officials raided six properties of Jignesh Shah and Sanjay Shah. They recovered around Rs 19 crore in cash (in currency notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500) from the cupboards in the bedroom of Jignesh's residence at Parshwa Appartment near Shardamandir in Paldi area. I-T officials also raided Sanjay's residence at Prernatirth Bunglows in Jodhpur village. Overall, raids were conducted at six locations, of which three are residential and three commercial. "The duo acted as entry and exit providers for off market stock trading in penny stocks to manipulate Long Term Capital Gains Tax (LTCG)," Jain told media persons. Prices of penny stocks are inflated and deflated to suit the investor. They were processing 18 demat accounts. All the cash is unaccounted. The Income Tax Returns filed by the duo do not match the kind of cash and other assets in their possession. They also possess luxury cars. The amount of cash was such that it took I-T officials about five hours to count the currency notes. I-T sleuths have also recovered laptops, hard disks and mobilephones, which are expected to contain incriminating details. Officials have sent the seized materials for forensic analysis. The duo has been believed to have been operating for about six years now. Both are being interrogated by IT sleuths. UNMATCHED ASSETS The Income Tax Returns filed by the duo do not match the kind of cash and other assets in their possession. They also possess luxury cars.

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