LUCKNOW, Aug. 25 -- Income tax investigators have uncovered what they say is a massive corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund siphoning racket worth over Rs.800 crores, involving bogus trusts and shell companies across six states. The Income Tax Investigation Unit in Agra carried out searches at more than 30 locations since August 19, targeting non-profit organisations suspected of misusing CSR donations mandated under Section 135 of the Companies Act, senior Income Tax officials said on Saturday. The ongoing operation, directed by the principal director of Income Tax (Investigation) in Kanpur, is still continuing with major findings related to tax evasion worth several crores expected, the officials added, asking not to be named. Investigators have found evidence of fraudulent remittances exceeding Rs.10,000 crores to foreign jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China and the United Arab Emirates, a senior Income Tax official said. Three trusts have emerged as central to the elaborate scheme: Jan Jagriti Sevarth Sansthan in Mathura, Dr Brajmohan Sapoot Kala Sanskriti Seva Sansthan in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, and Raginiben Bipinchandra Sevakarya Trust in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Officials said the searches revealed that these three trusts were involved in allegedly siphoning off more than Rs.800 crores worth of CSR donations. "Although these organisations claimed to operate in education, health, employment and social welfare sectors, search investigations revealed that these trusts were not involved in any charitable activities," one of the officials explained. "The investigation has found that not a single penny has been invested in any kind of social work." Officials said the searches have uncovered a complex network of several bogus and shell companies, managed by a group of chartered accountants and controllers of these trusts, which facilitated the diversion of the CSR funds to foreign jurisdictions. The crackdown highlights growing concerns over the misuse of India's vast non-profit sector. A senior official noted that India has more than three million NPOs (non-profit organisations), and government funds along with mandatory corporate social responsibility requirements provide substantial funding to the sector annually. Tax officials said money laundering risks within the NPO sector have been tied to abuses of Section 135 of the Companies Act, with companies channelling mandatory CSR funds into fake trusts that then covertly reclaim the money through cash withdrawals or complex financial transactions. The investigation spans Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh, and has uncovered substantial incriminating evidence against various corporate entities, trusts, shell companies, chartered accountants, and diamond merchants involved in the tax evasion scheme, officials said....