The Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹5 crore in the form of fixed-deposits of a conduit in connection the money laundering case against Surat-based “hawala operator” Afroz Fatta and his associates.
The agency has so far attached properties worth about ₹15 crore in the case.
Using a large web of shell companies, the hawala network is alleged to have sent ₹5,396 crore to various companies in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, on the basis of forged bills of entry.
The ED probe pertains to two cases registered by the Surat Crime Branch under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code. “Using forged bills of entry, the funds were remitted to the companies abroad through the accounts of nine shell companies with the ICICI Bank in Surat,” said an ED official.
The Directorate has identified Afroz Fatta, Madanlal Jain, Bilal Haroon Galani and others who were allegedly involved in sending the illegal remittances to the UAE and Hong Kong.
A chain of shell companies, in multiple layers, were used to route the funds. “These nine companies had received funds from the Axis bank accounts of several other entities, to which the money was sent from another set of companies. These shell companies were created, controlled and supervised mainly by accused Madanlal Jain, using dummy directors or partners,” said the official.
According to the ED, The funds were infused into the system mainly through cheque discounting and a web of companies and were ultimately transferred to said ICICI bank accounts.
“Madanlal Jain had diverted funds to the tune of ₹5 crore to one of his companies, Orient City Scape, for further investment in Sarr Realtors and Rigveda Properties. The funds, being the proceeds of crime, have been attached,” the official said.
