Chennai 'baniyan' trader caught with ₹24 lakh in Hawala money
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ED officials said the agency seized ₹24 lakh, of which ₹13 lakh was in foreign currencies, from a merchant in the Sowcarpet area of the Tamil Nadu capital.
Identified as M Qader, sources said the dealer had made the selling of 'baniyans' (cotton vests) his 'front' business in the narrow bylanes of the bustling market in the southern metropolis.
"The agency has filed a case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act against the dealer as he was dealing in Hawala. The action was taken based on specific inputs," they said.
'Hawala' pertains to the routing of vast tranches of cash to and from Indian shores by skirting the legal banking route and subsequently evading government duties, taxes.
In the second case, agency sleuths seized another over ₹25 lakh from another Hawala operative based in Nagercoil town of Kanyakumari district.
They said the agent was remitting money to and from Dubai and Hong Kong, and he too has been booked under FEMA.
"Both the actions were undertaken within this week. The further probe in the two cases is on," they said.
The ED is the empowered central agency to implement FEMA in the country.
