Black Money case: Businessman Pankaj Lodhiya questioned by Enforcement Directorate

AHMEDABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has questioned Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Lodhiya, who has been named in the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court by the Union Government in the black money case.

In connection with two of his overseas bank accounts and possibility of black money being transferred into these accounts, ED had summoned Lodhiya a week ago. ED sources said he appeared before the officers yesterday.

He refuted all the allegations of transactions involving black money from his accounts in Singapore and Dubai, maintaining that both the accounts were legal, and he had declared them in the past, sources added.

ED has now asked him to provide documents related to his transactions to substantiate his claims.

The agency is also planning to ask the overseas banks to provide bank statements to find out whether he used these accounts to transfer money to other accounts, revealed the sources.

Lodhiya is on the ED's radar ever since the Income Tax department conducted searches in 2013 and found documents which confirmed that he had at least two overseas accounts, one in Dubai and another in Singapore.

Lodhiya is the owner of Shreeji Trading Company based in Rajkot, which is involved in gold trading. It has two subsidiaries -- Shreeji Ornaments Pvt Ltd and Shreeji Realty.