The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), in its ongoing investigation into illegal foreign remittances, has uncovered a network of 98 alleged dummy partnership firms and 12 private limited companies.
The accused allegedly funnelled over Rs 10,000 crore to entities in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand under the guise of freight charges.
The transactions were executed through 269 bank accounts opened in the names of shell entities, revealing a sophisticated financial fraud operation, according to officials.
The agency made the revelation almost a week after it’s Mumbai zonal office conducted search operations on January 2 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at eleven locations in Mumbai, Thane and Varanasi in the matter of illegal foreign remittances case.
During the course of search operations, movable assets such as cash and jewellery to the tune of Rs 1 crore were seized. Other incriminating documents related to immovable property transactions, digital devices have been found and seized during the search proceedings.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of First Information Report (FIR) registered by Thane Police against Jitendra Pandey and others. “They are accused of making remittances in excess of Rs 10,000 crore to entities in Hongkong, Singapore and Thailand in guise of freight charges through a web of bank accounts opened in the name of shell entities,” said the ED.
Jitendra Pandey and other accused persons were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Thane Police.
“ED investigation has so far revealed that the accused persons set up 98 dummy partnership firms and 12 private limited companies and opened about 269 bank accounts in their name to execute such illicit financial transactions through them,” the federal agency said.
The search operations, ED said, unveiled a network of RTGS entry operators who used to arrange the RTGS entries in bank account of partnership firms which is layered through bank account of these shell entities in order to conceal the origin of the funds.
Thereafter, the agency said the funds were finally placed in the bank accounts of 12 private limited companies purportedly in the business of freight and logistics and remitted abroad in guise of freight charges.
“Role of several chartered accountants helping the accused in incorporation of the companies and with the regulatory compliances including ROC filing etc, Form 15 CA has also emerged,” added the agency.
(With inputs from ANI)
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