Big hawala bust: Did this gang park money for 2g spectrum scam accused?

New Delhi, July 10: In probably one of the biggest busts in recent times, the Enforcement Directorate has cracked a hawala ring which had laundered over Rs 10,000 crore in Dubai. Investigations would show that the gang which had its roots in Mumbai was involved in laundering money through hawala channels.

Various transactions are under the scanner including one such money transfer to a Chennai based company alleged to be part of the 2G spectrum scam.

The trail of the money which is being investigated suggested that money from Surat, Mumbai was parked in accounts of persons based out of Hong Kong and Dubai.

This is a major breakthrough for the Enforcement Directorate which has launched a series of investigations to get details of black money parked abroad through various channels including hawala.

Big names likely to come out

The transactions made by the kingpin who is still at larger suggest that money had been parked in the name of bogus companies in Surat, Maharashtra and Chennai. The transactions have been under the radar of both the internal and external intelligence agencies of India.

There were high value transactions to the tune of over Rs 10,00,00 in the past four years.

The money would land up with the kingpin either at Surat or Mumbai. The kingpin who is a major hawala operative would in turn launder the cash to Hong Kong and Dubai. In each of these transactions bogus company names have been used in a bid to dodge the police.

Investigations have also found that the kingpin was a stock trader in Mumbai and has been in the game since the past ten years. At first he would park the money in private banks in Surat following which it would be withdrawn and laundered outside the country.

The kingpin had become a point man for several bureaucrats and politicians who sought to launder dirty cash outside the country.

Bringing the money back

Investigations and the questioning of five persons arrested in connection with this case has revealed that the money moved in and out of the country several times. First it was collected in India and then parked outside. Later depending on the request of the stake holders, the money would be brought back to the country and distributed.

Some amount of money was brought back after being laundered abroad at the request of the players, the ED has found. The ED will seek details of these persons from Hong Kong and Dubai in a bid to further the probe. More importantly with the help of the intelligence bureau, the ED will try and nab the kingpin of this racket.

OneIndia News