Rs 22.96 cr ‘hawala’ dealings unearthed in ED probe

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 30

‘Hawala’ transactions worth Rs 22.96 crore have surfaced in Punjab during the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigations. 

The premier investigating agency has also identified nearly 100 big ‘hawala’ operators active in different parts of the state, facilitating ‘illegal’ money remittances on behalf of more than 600 people, including exporters and NRIs.

The ED is gearing itself up to summon dozens of ‘hawala’ beneficiaries, including some big exporters and NRIs, to make them join the ongoing investigation into the ‘hawala’ operations in Punjab.

The premier economic investigation agency has also imposed a penalty of Rs 3,10,51,500 on recipients, money changers and exporters for violation of various provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999, apart from the proposed confiscation of a shady amount of Rs 1,96,24,404 from the violators. 

Penalty up to 300 per cent can be imposed on the violators as per the provisions of the sub-section (2) of Section 19 of the Act. In case of failure to pay the penalty, he or she can also be subjected to civil imprisonment of up to a year.

Though the agency has identified over 600 ‘hawala’ beneficiaries — who have been sending or receiving money from abroad — in the first phase, it is getting tough only with ‘big fish’, particularly 13 exporters and habitual offenders who have allegedly been utilising the ‘hawala’ route for money laundering purposes.

The ‘hawala’ trail had got initiated in Punjab following as many as 45 searches at the premises of some of the recipients or beneficiaries of ‘hawala’ money in the aftermath of the 2013 ED raids on one Jalandhar-based Happy and one Ludhiana-based money changer Laddi.

All 26 money changers identified as major hawala operators so far have allegedly been linked to Happy or Laadi in one or the other way.

Though the actual ‘hawala’ transactions in Punjab are said to be running into several hundred crores, the agency has issued show-causes notices to as many as 36 offenders whose involvement in transactions worth Rs 22.96 crore has been established by the agency sleuths. “The cases of 13 exporters who had resorted to inflated or bogus billing for exports and reaping duty drawback benefits are under investigation,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

Around 95 per cent of Rs 22.96 crore ‘hawala’ money was allegedly channelised by money changers-cum-hawala operators on behalf of exporters and businessmen. 

They had thrived making money without making any major investments for they had allegedly resorted to ‘bogus billing’ or exaggerated billing of their so-called exports to North America or Gulf countries through bogus or shady firms. 

Their primary objective was to gobble up the hefty duty drawback benefits offered to exporters to encourage exports by Indian companies by the Union Ministry of Finance. 

Duty drawbacks were offered in the range of 8-10 per cent of the exported value of goods. A sizeable chunk of these ‘exports’ was either made on the basis of ‘paper transactions’ or by way of inflated bills, revealed highly placed sources in the ED.

A majority of the duty drawback incentives were found to have been pocketed by Ludhiana and Jalandhar-based hosiery and scaffolding firms which allegedly exported inferior goods but raised bills of premium quality.