Bengaluru: Just two days before he went missing, Cafe Coffee Day boss VG Siddhartha reportedly wrote a letter expressing unhappiness over not creating “the right profitable business” and alleged “harassment” by a senior income tax officer.
The letter dated July 27, was apparently for the board members and employees before he went missing on Monday evening. Sources wonder how a letter dated July 27 surfaced only on July 30. Was it drafted on 27th and did Siddhartha release it on 29th?
The Income Tax Department too has raised doubts over the letter. The department denied charges of harassment during their probe against Siddhartha and official sources pointed out that the signatures of the entrepreneur available with them were different from those on a letter being widely published on the social media. They said the businessman had admitted holding stash income after raids were conducted against him and his concerns.
The Income Tax Department has acted as per law in its probe against Café Coffee Day (CCD) promoter V G Siddhartha, official sources said on Tuesday.
In the letter, Siddhartha, who has gone missing on his way to Mangaluru from Bengaluru in, said there was a lot of harassment from the Income Tax Department in the form of attaching “our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking position of our Coffee Day shares, although revised returns have been filed by us”.
Coffee Day Enterprises’ board reviewed letter purportedly signed by Siddhartha, shared copies with relevant authorities.
In his letter, Siddhartha wrote: “I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts. I would like to say I gave it my all. I am very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure…”
“…I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares, a transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend. Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead to me succumbing to the situation. There was a lot of harassment from the previous DG income tax in the form of attaching our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking position of our Coffee Day shares… This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch.”
“Every financial transaction is my responsibility…the law should hold me & only me accountable,” he added.
But as the letter was shared widely, the authenticity of it is now being questioned.