Hawala operator busted, Rs 3.5 lakh foreign currency seized

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has busted a hawala operator working out of his Forex Exchange shop in a posh locality here and has seized cash amounting to over Rs 18 lakh and foreign currency worth Rs 3.5 lakh besides recovering several incriminating documents.

Sources in the agency said that based on a specific tip-off, the Delhi Zonal Unit of the ED had raided the premises of a forex exchange shop in Greater Kailash locality recently.

"Search action revealed that the money changer was engaged in illegal sale and purchase of foreign currency and in hawala transactions," a senior official of the agency said.

Sources said that the cash amounting to Rs 18.10 lakh was seized along with foreign currency worth Rs 3.5 lakh during the searches at the office and residence besides certain incriminating documents.

"Seized documents also indicate acquisition of immovable property in Dubai and operation of foreign bank accounts," sources said.

They added that documents related to investment in properties worth Rs 1.66 crore were also recovered and seized.

Sources said as per RBI guidelines, foreign currency could be exchanged only after taking into account passport details and other related requirements.

"In the present case we found that no such guidelines were being followed. Moreover each forex exchanger is supposed to maintain a log book which is open to inspection by government bodies. But here, the log book was present only for namesake," sources said.

This is the second hawala racket to have been busted by the agency in the recent past. Earlier last month, a major hawala racket was busted by ED which resulted in seizure of over Rs 4 crore.