The Enforcement Directorate has made another round of attachment in connection with a money laundering case against alleged Surat-based “hawala” operator Afroz Fatta and others.
The properties worth ₹9.50 crore belong to Abdul Karim Jaka, a Mumbai-based businessman dealing in real estate and ship-breaking work. They include a housing complex building, land and two flats in Mumbai, besides a parcel of land measuring 11,234 square metres in Raigad district of Maharashtra.
The probe is based on an FIR registered by Surat’s Crime Branch against R.A. Distributors Private Limited and others, for alleged illegal outward remittances of foreign exchange using bogus bills of entry submitted to ICICI Bank in Surat, it said.
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The ED found that nine companies, having accounts with the same bank, had remitted huge amounts of money using forged documents to three companies in the United Arab Emirates and 15 companies in Hong Kong. The main source of credits in these accounts were from many firms having accounts with Axis Bank, apart from 469 other entities.
“Further, the entities having accounts in Axis Bank had received funds through various cheque discounters and a web of 2,700 companies,” the agency said, adding that Mr. Fatta, Madanlal Jain, Bilal Haroon Gilani, Jayesh Desai and Rakesh Kothari were involved in creating the shell companies using dummy directors/partners.
It is alleged that Mr. Fatta sent illegally earned commissions in foreign remittances on the pretext of imports to the bank account of Mr. Jaka.
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Earlier, the ED had arrested Mr. Fatta, Mr. Jain, Mr. Shah, Mr. Kothari and Mr. Desai and attached their properties worth ₹17.15 crore. Five charge sheets have so far been filed against the accused.