The Enforcement Directorate has now booked alleged international hawala operator Naresh Jain under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act for allegedly laundering international drug money.
According to sources in the ED Naresh Jain allegedly helped Albanian narcotics traffickers to move their sale proceeds out of Italy into a financial network based in the UAE. He used a network of money remitters in Italy and other European countries, as well as in the UAE and Pakistan, to launder their drug proceeds through hawala, sources added. Naresh Jain was arrested in Delhi following a joint raid by the ED and Narcotics Control Bureau of India on December 6, 2009.
When Naresh Jain was in Dubai, he used to carry out hawala transactions worth Rs 500 crores daily, sources said adding that the ED officials are in touch with certain UAE agencies in this regard. Sources further added that Naresh Jain reportedly used to own an aircraft in Dubai also. The ED is trying to gather all related details. Sources further said that the US agencies had already sealed 15 bank accounts of Naresh Jain in which around $5.6 million are lying. Jain had allegedly invested a huge amount in his two Dubai-based companies.
“The Serious Organised Crime Agency of the USA and the Drug Enforcement Agency of UK also shared investigation details with the ED”, sources added. Even the agency concerned of Italy also wants to share certain investigation details with the ED in connection with Naresh Jain’s hawala and drug trafficking rackets. Naresh Jain was wanted by two countries, the UAE and the UK.
***
SC notice to ED on Koda aide
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
June 8: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate and Income-Tax Department on a petition by an alleged associate of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, facing probe in multi-crore money laundering case.
A bench of Justices Deepak Verma and S.K. Radhakrishnan issued the notice to ED and IT department on Vikas Sinha’s petition for bail.
Vikas Sinha, a brother of Vinod Sinha, an alleged “front man” of Koda, in his petition claimed that he was being detained in judicial custody even without questioning by the ED and the IT officials.
The ED and IT department against Koda arrested Vikas Sinha on November 6, 2009 in the process of investigation in the multi-crore money laundering case. Vikas is presently lodged in Judicial custody in Ranchi.
The apex court directed the ED and IT department to submit their affidavits to the questions raised by Vikas Sinha relating to his detention in judicial custody even “without” questioning him by their officials.