Good Samaritan, hailed as a hero during pandemic and Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, has found himself in an Income Tax Evasion fraud. The IT department said on Saturday that he has evaded over Rs 20 crore in taxes. The department in a statement said Sood has routed “unaccounted income in the form of bogus unsecured loans” through fake entities.
Sonu Sood evades Rs 20 Cr in Tax
The I-T department on September 15 had searched 28 premises in Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, Delhi and Gurgaon in connection with its case against Sonu Sood and a Lucknow-based real estate firm.
The department said it has found that Sood camouflaged professional receipts as loans in the books of accounts to allegedly evade taxes. It also alleged that the 48-year-old actor has used the loans to acquire properties.
According to the tax authority, Sood’s charity foundation – founded last July – raised Rs 18.94 crore in donations from April 2021 till date and spent only Rs 1.7 crore in relief work. The remaining Rs 17 crore is lying with the foundation untilised, it alleged.
The department also alleged that Sood’s charity foundation has raised Rs 2.1 crore from outside India in violation of Foreign contribution regulation Act norms.
In his pinned tweet Sonu Sood on Twitter wrote :
Remember coming from Moga to Mumbai on an unreserved ticket. Thank you everyone for all the love. Miss my parents more
During the peak of pandemic he was the most sought after samaritan and he was called good samaritan. He even wrote on his twitter: Help and change the life of 10 people atleast. Will give my best to make your dream come true.
Sonu Sood was honored with SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award
Actor Sonu Sood, who has been hailed as a hero on social media for his efforts to send thousands of stranded migrants to their home villages during and after the lockdown, has been honoured with the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the Department of Planning of the Government of Punjab.
The actor has received the award at a virtual ceremony on Monday for selflessly helping stranded migrants during the coronavirus crisis by arranging food, buses, trains and chartered flights for them and providing them job opportunities for better livelihood. The 47-year-old actor also offered his hotel in Mumbai for medical professionals to stay in and arranged safe shelters for several people in Mumbai before cyclone Nisarga hit Maharashtra coast in July.
The award was thought to have been conferred to Sonu Sood by the UNDP but the UN body in a statement issued a clarification and said: “The ‘Special Humanitarian Action Award’ given to Mr Sonu Sood was conferred on him by the Department of Planning of the Government of Punjab, with the support of the Sustainable Development Goals Coordination Centre.
The awardees were selected based on the recommendation of an independent jury. UNDP was not involved in the selection nor in the conferring of the award to Mr Sonu Sood. We congratulate Mr Sood on receiving this award and appreciate his humanitarian efforts to help people in these challenging times.”
During the lockdown, Sonu Sood even launched a toll-free helpline number so that he can help those who needed assistance during the coronavirus crisis. He also reached out to a couple of members of the film fraternity who asked for financial help on social media.
Sonu Sood has featured in a number of Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He made his acting debut with the 1999 Tamil film Kallazhagar and ventured into Bollywood with the 2002 film Shaheed-E-Azam. Sonu Sood is best-known for his performances in movies like Dabangg, Yuva, Athadu, Jodhaa Akbar, Dookudu, Shootout At Wadala, Happy New Year and Simmba, among many others.
