Who is Charlie Peng, the alleged mastermind of the Chinese hawala racket in India
New Delhi, Aug 18: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday registered a case of money laundering against a Chinese national. He has been accused of allegedly running a hawala racket worth Rs 1,000 crore.
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The Chinese national in question is Luo Sang alias Charlie Peng. The 42 year old Peng is allegedly holding a fake Indian Passport. He is accused of creating a web of sham companies which he used to launder hawala funds to and from China.
He has been orchestrating this racket for the past 3 years now. Investigations have shown that he was involved in the import and export of medical and electronic goods and also other items.
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He is said to have got the fake passport from Manipur after he married a woman there.
He had also managed to get fake Aadhaar cards. He is also alleged to have bribed some Tibetans in Delhi and got work done through them.
Peng had been arrested in 2018 by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on charges of fraud and forgery. He was also accused of running an illegal money changer.
It may be recalled that last week the Income Tax Department conducted raids against some Chinese individuals and their local associates for allegedly indulging in a money laundering racket involving Rs 1,000 crore using shell or dubious firms, the CBDT said.
It said the "subsidiary of Chinese company and its related concerns have taken over Rs 100 crore bogus advances from shell entities for opening businesses of retail showrooms in India".
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), that frames policy for the tax department, said the searches were launched based on credible inputs that a few Chinese individuals and their Indian associates were involved in money laundering and hawala transactions through a series of shell entities.
Some bank officials were also raided, it said.
"Search action revealed that at the behest of Chinese individuals, more than 40 bank accounts were created in various dummy entities, entering into credits of more than Rs 1,000 crore over the period," it said in a statement without identifying the entities involved.
"Incriminating documents of hawala transactions and money laundering with active involvement of bank employees and Chartered Accountants have been found as a result of the search action," it said.
Evidences of foreign hawala transactions involving Hong Kong and US dollars have also been unearthed, the CBDT said.