The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested two persons allegedly associated with some of the shell companies raided across the country last weekend.
While K. Liakath Ali was arrested on charges of cheating the Thousand Lights Branch of Indian Bank in Chennai by remitting ₹78 crore abroad using eight shell companies, G. Dhananjaya Reddy, who has been accused of floating over 20 shell companies to get a ₹70-crore loan from the United Bank of India and other banks, was arrested in Bengaluru. A judicial magistrate in Chennai remanded Mr. Ali in judicial custody for 14 days. He is now lodged in the Central Prison at Puzhal in the city.
ED officials said Ali was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for remitting foreign exchange through shell companies using fake papers. He has allegedly remitted ₹78 crore outside India, against forged bills of entry without affecting any actual imports.
Surat man held
In another case, the ED has attached ₹5 crore in fixed deposits of a conduit in a money-laundering case against Afroz Fatta, an alleged “hawala operator” in Surat, and his associates. The agency has so far attached assets worth ₹15 crore. Through a web of shell companies, the hawala network is alleged to have sent ₹5,396 crore to various companies in the UAE and Hong Kong with forged bills of entry. The probe is based on two cases filed by the Surat Crime Branch under the Indian Penal Code. “With forged bills of entry, the funds were remitted to the companies abroad through the accounts of nine shell companies with ICICI Bank in Surat,” an official said.
