The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a person on charges of money-laundering in connection with a case involving an international hawala syndicate through which funds collected from exporters and importers were being remitted overseas using bogus invoices.
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The accused, Manideep Mago, was produced before a special court that sent him to ED custody till June 23.
The ED investigation concerns a Delhi-based company that had sold crypto-currencies worth more than ₹1,858 crore on various crypto exchanges. During preliminary inquiry, the agency found that foreign outward remittances worth over ₹3,500 crore had been made by the company and its related entities.
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“Further, cash deposits of more than ₹1,300 crore have been made in the bank accounts of related entities. Based on preliminary findings, a search action under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) was conducted by the directorate,” the agency said on Wednesday.
During the searches, the ED found that the international hawala syndicate had been operating from Delhi. It collected cash from exporters and importers, and remitted the same to foreign countries against bogus invoices.
“As part of this large operation, foreign outward remittances worth more than ₹3,500 crore have been made to Canada and Hong Kong against the bogus invoices raised for online lease of GPU servers for crypto mining, educational software, lease of bare metal servers, etc. The members of the syndicate incorporated companies in Hong Kong and Canada for facilitating international hawala,” it said.
The syndicate had allegedly invested heavily in illegal crypto-mining and arbitrage trading as part of the operations. The ED found evidence showing the complicity of chartered accountants and bank officials. “Bogus invoices were generated and forged invoices in the name of 70,000 random names were entered into the tally database to justify the deposit of cash. The source of the cryptocurrencies was not revealed by the accused persons,” the ED said.
The agency lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police’s crime branch which registered an FIR against the syndicate members. Subsequently, the ED launched a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Earlier, the crime branch had also arrested Mr. Mago for his alleged role.