Black money case: Hawala operator Syed Abbas Naqvi moved funds for Hasan Ali

NEW DELHI: Syed Abbas Naqvi, a hawala operator from Mumbai, has emerged as a key player in executing cash transactions of Hasan Ali Khan, the Pune-based businessman accused of stashing away $8 billion in Swiss banks.

Both Khan and his associate Kashinath Tapuria, the businessman from Kolkata, who too is incarcerated in jail, during interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate have admitted to their links with Naqvi. The duo told investigators that they had utilised Naqvi's services to move large amounts of funds abroad.

The Mumbai-based hawala operator has emerged the key link in Khan's black money trail. ED is now engaged in probing whether he was involved in 'round-tripping' funds - siphoning off black money abroad and bringing it back to the country, laundered.

ED believes Khan and people close to him made a fortune by trafficking in money. Their clients included those who were blacklisted by Swiss banks and hence had to use accounts of others to divert their funds. They found an ideal conduit in Khan.

ED believes Khan earned huge amounts of money as commission in the process. The money was brought back into the country either through the hawala network or a labyrinth of accounts run by the Khan-Tapuria duo and their associates.

One such account was managed by RM Investment and Trading Co, a firm managed by Tapuria. Enforcement Directorate has detected a diversion of funds into the company from the Zurich branch of Credit Lyonnais.

Khan and Tapuria, when asked by ED to explain the source of the funds which they had received from abroad, replied that they had earned it by way of commission for services rendered to clients. But they failed to explain what these services were.

Khan and Tapuria, according to an ED source, opened a web of accounts to eliminate the chances of zeroing on their sources. This is a standard practice employed by people seeking to channelise ill-gotten money.

ED now claims to have sufficient evidence to nail Khan and his accomplices under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.