Sonu Sood reacts after alleged 20 cr tax evasion & IT raids at his home and offices last week

Actor Sonu Sood recently came under the scanner after Income Tax officials raided his premises and tax evasion of Rs 20 crore was reported.

Reacting to the allegations, Sonu Sood issued a statement on social media and said ‘every rupee from his foundation’ will be used for needy.

He stated that he was busy attending to ‘guests’, hinting at the IT officials, for the past four days and is back to serve everyone (breath statement)

For the uninitiated, Sonu, whose noble efforts during the Covid crisis won huge praise, was raided for four days in a row by the Income Tax department, which alleges that he evaded taxes worth over ₹ 20 crore.

According to sources, the tax raids were launched to investigate a deal between Sonu Sood's company and a Lucknow-based real estate firm.

Later, the tax department put out a statement, saying Sonu Sood's non-profit Sood Charity Foundation set up in July last year collected donations of over ₹ 18 crores till April this year, out of which ₹ 1.9 crores has been spent on relief work and ₹ 17 crore has been lying unused. It also said the organisation raised Rs 2.1 crore from overseas donors using a crowdfunding platform in violation of the law.

The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have questioned the timing of the Income Tax searches and have linked them to his recent tie-up with AAP for an education mentorship program. But the BJP has said there is no link between Mr Sood's tie-up with AAP and the searches.