So Sonu Sood isn’t just a tax evader, but a swindler who conned in the name of charity

• Sonu Sood has been found to be involved in tax evasion worth more than 20 crore rupees
• It seems the actor was running a nexus of tax evasion through which he and a large number of people who want to evade taxes benefitted.
• The investigation agencies raided multiple locations in various cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow to ensure that the web of fraud by Sonu Sood and his team is revealed.
• It seems that the social work done by Sonu Sood was an effort by the man to deflect attention from his purported criminalities.

Sonu Sood, the Bollywood actor who positioned himself as the messiah of the poor during the pandemic, has been found to be involved in tax evasion worth more than 20 crore rupees and many other financial crimes like bogus billing, violation and Foreign Exchange regulation act, and so on.

It seems the actor was running a nexus of tax evasion through which he and a large number of people who want to evade taxes benefitted. According to a press note by Income Tax Department, “Investigations so far have revealed the use of twenty such entries, the providers of which, on examination, have accepted on oath to have given bogus accommodation entries. They have accepted to have issued cheques in lieu of cash. There have been instances where professional receipts have been camouflaged as loans in the books of accounts for the purpose of evasion of tax. It has also been revealed that these bogus loans have been used for making investments and acquiring properties.”

The investigation agencies raided multiple locations in various cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow to ensure that the web of fraud by Sonu Sood and his team is revealed. From bogus billing of subcontracting expenses to the collection of money through crowdfunding and then utilising it for personal expenses, Sonu Sood is now coming out as the messiah of financial fraud from the messiah of needy people a few months ago.

“Evidence of such bogus contracts found so far is to the tune of over Rs 65 crore. Further, it has been unearthed that the infrastructure company has entered into a dubious circular transaction to the tune of Rs 175 crore with an infrastructure company based in Jaipur. Further investigations are being carried out to establish the full extent of tax evasion,” said the Income Tax department in the press note.

Sonu Sood arranged buses, trains, and even flights to take hundreds of migrants, stranded and helpless in the lockdown, to their home state. During the second wave earlier this year, he organised oxygen for Covid patients. Sonu Sood also runs an NGO called Sood Charity Foundation. According to its website, the NGO works in sectors like providing state-of-the-art healthcare, education, employment, and technology advancements.

However, it seems that the social work done by Sonu Sood was, in fact, an effort by the man to deflect attention from his purported criminalities and build a network of supporters for himself, who would fanatically support him no matter what he is accused of. Sonu Sood knew that for his alleged illegal activities, the law would soon catch up with him. Therefore, he seems to have engaged in an extensive PR campaign to project himself as the biggest social worker of India who helped lakhs of people during the Covid-19 pandemic since last year.

A few weeks ago, he even shared the stage with Arvind Kejriwal – who appointed him ambassador of the Delhi government just like the Punjab government did a few months ago, indicating that he will get involved in electoral politics very soon.

The PR campaign waged by Sood has worked wonders for him. For instance, social media is rife with Sood’s supporters outraging against the IT department for conducting raids at his properties. He can now project public opinion as being on his side. Sood seems to have insulated himself, although, in the face of evidence against him (if any), the man’s entire network of supporters will fall flat on its face.