New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a member of an international Hawala syndicate active in Delhi, under charges of money laundering in an illegal foreign remittances case.
The accused, identified as Manideep Mago, was arrested under the Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 as his role was established as a member of an international Hawala syndicate which has been active in Delhi and was collecting cash from exporters and importers; and remitting the same to foreign countries against bogus invoices.
The Delhi Police had earlier also arrested the accused Manideep Mago in the matter.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of source information that a Delhi-based company has sold cryptocurrencies worth more than Rs 1,858 crore on crypto exchanges.
During preliminary investigation, ED said, it was revealed that foreign outward remittances worth more than Rs 3,500 crore have also been made by the company and its related entities.
Further, cash deposits of more than Rs 1,300 crore have also been made in the bank accounts of related entities.
Based on the preliminary findings, ED said, a search action under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) was conducted by the Directorate.
"During search proceedings, it was revealed that an International Hawala syndicate has been active in Delhi and was collecting cash from exporters/ importers; and remitting the same to foreign countries against bogus invoices.
As part of this large operation, foreign outward remittances worth more than Rs 3500 Crore have been sent to Canada and Hong Kong against bogus invoices raised for 'online lease of GPU servers for crypto mining', educational software and lease of Bare Metal servers," said the agency (with Agency inputs).
