Kolkata's Lalbazar is home to at least 300 shell companies
At least 70 per cent
people involved in opening shell companies are not even CAs but only entry
operators.
LATEST
NEWS : This
article was first published on Business Standard on Feb 20, 2017. Business
Standard is republishing this article in light of Sebi imposing trading
restrictions on suspected shell companies
Lalbazar,
one of the oldest areas of Kolkata and once the home of merchant princes of the
East India Company, is now the residence to shell companies.
Still famous for colonial-era
commodities such as tea and dying goods and services such as typewriters and
wedding bands, the bustling area in central Kolkata is almost synonymous with
the city police headquarters, housed in a red brick building at 18 Lalbazar
Street.
Right across the street is the
dilapidated Mercantile Buildings at 9/12. In its recent crackdown on shell
companies, the income tax (I-T) department has identified this address as the
home of 90 per cent — or 300 — of such entities in the country.
The building, on a corner plot,
with gothic arches and still impressive façade, came up in 1918. During the
construction of the iconic Howrah Bridge over the Hoogly, from 1935 to 1943, it
was used as a warehouse for iron beams imported from England.
It was also a hub of the cycle
trade. As a continuation, the ground floor has several wholesale shops selling
cycle parts.
Now, this building is only famous
for fires and I-T raids.
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