Income Tax Dept seizes foreign currency of $2.27 mn
The Income Tax department on Monday seized $ 2.27 million from a Lagos-bound African national at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Acting on intelligence gathered by the Air Intelligence Unit indicating a large scale transfer of forex, IT sleuths intercepted the African national at the airport in the early hours, IT sources said.
The search of his baggage led to the seizure of foreign currency amounting to $2.27 million for which he had no satisfactory explanation, they said.
The person had booked a ticket on Ethopian Airlines to travel to Lagos.
"This is a large racket of forex transfer. The racket spread over different countries with several contacts based in India. We have launched a detailed investigation," a senior IT official said.
The IT department informed the Enforcement Directorate and Ministry of External Affairs about the seizure of the money and dentention of the person, whose identity has not been revealed yet.
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