“Every rupee in my foundation is for needy…,”, Actor Sonu Sood after IT raids

Actor Sonu Sood, speaking for the first time on tax raids at his Mumbai home and offices last week and allegations of tax evasion, said that “every rupee” in his foundation was “awaiting its turn to save a life.” He also took a swipe at the Income Tax department, commenting that he had been “busy attending to guests” for four days.

“You don’t always have to tell your side of the story. Time will,” the actor said in a statement he tweeted along with a couplet in Hindu, loosely translated as – “even the most difficult path can seem easy with the goodwill of every Indian.” The 48-year-old actor, whose philanthropic 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. He said that now he is back again in all the humility at the humble service for the people in need and for their life. His post concluded with the note written in Hindi, “kar bhala, ho bhala, ant bhale ka bhala” (if you do good, good will happen to you). It was also written in his post that his journey continues. Tax department said Mr Sood’s nonprofit raised Rs 2.1 crore from foreign donors using crowdfunding platform in violation of the law,Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which governs such transactions. “During the search of the premises of the actor and his associates, incriminating evidence relating to tax evasion was found. The main modus operandi followed by the actor had been to channel his unrecorded income under the form of bogus unsecured loans from many bogus entities, ”the tax department said in the statement.