I-T Starts Scrutiny of IPO Scam-tainted Demat A/cs

The Income Tax department has started scrutinising over Rs.6. 5 lakh demat accounts, which were frozen following the 2006 IPO scam, to see if black money was used to purchase equities by persons through multiple accounts. Investigation and intelligence wings have started looking into the frozen accounts with substantial amounts lying in them to see if they are linked, a revenue official said. These accounts were frozen by the two depositories, National Securities Depository (NSDL) and Central Securities Depository Services (CSDL), on January 1, 2007, after investors failed to comply with the Sebis directive to furnish details of their Permanent Account Number (PAN) while transacting in the financial markets. The scrutiny has been started from Mumbai and would later be extended to other parts of the country, the official said. – www.economictimes.indiatimes.com