Actor Sonu Sood has broken his silence amid the ongoing investigations into his finances. Sonu Sood scaled pinnacles of popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic for taking a step forward by organising free flights, trains and luxury buses to enable migrants stranded in Maharashtra and other parts of India to reach their homes. The I-T Department accused the Bollywood actor of financial irregularities worth over Rs 250 crore. While the actor kept mum when the I-T officials raided his properties, he took to Twitter on Monday to share a statement. Without mentioning anything about the raids or alleged tax evasions, the actor assured that every rupee in his foundation is awaiting its turn to save a precious life and reach the needy.
“You don’t always have to tell your side of the story. Time will. I have pledged myself to the service of the people of India with all my strength and heart. Every rupee in my foundation is awaiting its turn to save a precious life and reach the needy,” the post read. He also shared that on many occasions, he has “encouraged brands to donate my endorsement fees for humanitarian causes too, which keeps us going.”
For the unversed, the Income Tax Department accused Bollywood actor Sonu Sood of financial irregularities worth over Rs 250 crore by way of unutilised charitable funds, bogus contracts and circular transactions with one of his partner companies, and diverting funds to evade taxes, officials said.
The disclosures came after IT sleuths’ swoop for two days on some 28 premises in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kanpur and Gurugram in one of the biggest such investigative actions on any actor or entities linked with him. The operations continue.
In a rare official statement, the Income Tax Department, without naming him, has said that Sood evaded tax worth Rs 20 crore so far, besides listing other alleged wrongdoings emerging in its continuing probe.
An NGO, ‘SOOD Charity Foundation’, launched by the actor in July 2020 collected donations of Rs 18.94 crore till date of which it spent only Rs 1.90 crore towards various relief measures (for migrants), and the rest lies in the bank accounts.
The SOOD Charity Foundation also raised another Rs 2.10 crore from abroad through a crowd-funding platform, violating provisions of the FCRA, said the tax department.
