ED searches Delhi businessman for hawala transactions

New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) As part of its crackdown against hawala operators, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at multiple premises of a Delhi-based businessman for his involvement in large-scale hawala and illegal activities through shell companies, an official said on Monday.

The agency carried out searches at 10 locations, including the residential and office premises of Naresh Chand Jain in west Delhi's Pitampura, Vikaspuri, Rohini and Wazirabad on Saturday.

"The raids were conducted under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) on a tip-off that Naresh Chand Jain and his brother Bimal Kumar Jain are involved in large-scale hawala and illegal activities," the official said.

According to the official, Naresh has been opening shell companies and generating fake invoices, which he uses for making bogus imports and exports.

An ED statement said that the agency recovered Rs 27 lakh in Indian and foreign currencies of various countries, including Dubai, Hongkong, the US and the Philippines, during the searches.

"Some incriminating documents carrying details of various shell companies, stamps, letter-heads, fake or bogus invoices of various shell companies were also recovered along with hard discs, mobile phones, several PAN cards, voter ID cards, digital payment devices of various foreign banks and various SIM cards of Nepal and Dubai."

According to the ED statement, Naresh and his brother Bimal have been doing hawala transfers to Dubai, Singapore, Hongkong, China, Nepal, the US, Europe and other countries.

"Details of various bank accounts maintained in Dubai were also seized from the searched premises," it said.

Naresh registered shell companies by paying certain persons a sum of Rs 5,000-50,000 for becoming a director in his companies, the statement said. These fake directors and shell companies were later used by the accused persons and Naresh's associates for hawala and illegal activities, then ED said.

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