Visakhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam sub-zonal office of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has carried out search operations under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, at seven premises in Delhi and Kolkata in connection with an investigation into the alleged illegal transfer of funds outside India in the guise of payments for imported customised software based on forged documents.
The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered under various sections of the IPC by MVP Police Station, Visakhapatnam, following a complaint by the Income Tax Department against Vaddi Mahesh and others.
They were accused of conspiring, creating false and forged documents, and using them as genuine to make foreign outward remittances through various banks.
It was revealed that Vaddi Mahesh, along with his father and others, floated several companies with registered offices in Kolkata and opened bank accounts in their names, through which ₹569.03 crore was transferred to five companies in Singapore, Hong Kong and China, ostensibly towards the purchase of customised software.
However, fabricated invoices from the foreign companies were submitted to the banks, and no software was imported against these remittances.
The money laundering investigation conducted by the ED has revealed that Bhimendra Kumar Goyal, a habitual offender detained thrice under COFEPOSA, was allegedly smuggling cosmetics, electronic goods and textile fabrics into India by evading customs duty, including by misusing the Customs Transit Declaration Scheme available for Nepal.
To pay overseas suppliers and launder the proceeds of crime generated from the sale of smuggled goods, he allegedly approached Vaddi Mahesh through his associates.
Investigation has shown that during 2014-17, Vaddi Mahesh received funds in the bank accounts of his shell companies from various entities and remitted them abroad on the instructions of Bhimendra Kumar Goyal.
These funds were parked in dormant or newly incorporated companies in Singapore and Hong Kong held by nominee directors, and were further transferred to the bank accounts of Bhimendra Kumar Goyal and companies of his family members, M/s Swiss Fox Pte Ltd and M/s Bhav Technology China Limited, thereby allegedly projecting the proceeds of crime as untainted.
Investigation further revealed that Bhimendra Kumar Goyal, in collusion with Pawan Kumar Ralli, operated fake firms, M/s Mehak Overseas, M/s Karan Overseas and M/s Geet Enterprises, in fictitious names at fake addresses in New Delhi.
Part of the proceeds of crime was also allegedly diverted abroad through M/s Village Handicraft Export and received by M/s Eagle Mount Trading Pte Ltd, Singapore, beneficially owned by Ashish Todi.
The proceeds of crime in this case are prima facie estimated to be about ₹1,500 crore.
The search operation led to the seizure of unaccounted or unexplained cash, the amount of which was not specified in the provided copy, and foreign currency amounting to US$5,900, 2,200 UAE dirhams and 5,600 Chinese yuan, along with voluminous incriminating documents, records, property papers and digital devices containing evidence of the alleged layering of proceeds of crime and their transfer outside India through shell entities.
Further investigation is under progress.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
