Another Jain, Another Hawala! ED Busts 5K Cr Racket
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday booked Naresh Jain, an alleged Dawood Ibrahim aide, for running an alleged hawala racket being estimated to be to the tune of nearly Rs 5,000 crore.
Jain, who has faced US accusations of funding terrorist activities, was booked by the ED after raids at his brother Shyam Jain’s north-west Delhi residence led to the recovery of around 60 lakhs in unaccounted cash.
ED sleuths conducted extensive raids at eight premises belonging to Naresh Jain and his family members.Jain now faces charges under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
Jain shifted base to New Delhi from Dubai some six months ago after he figured in ‘Operation Khyber Pass’ – a sting operation conducted by Italian police and US’ Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) earlier this year.
With operations spread across Nigeria, Italy, Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and several other countries, Jain was first arrested with six others during a Dubai police crackdown on money launderers two years ago.
US and UK agencies suspect Jain of laundering drug money for several terror groups.
Media reports say Jain is connected to several leading politicians and industrialists in the country, who are suspected to have availed of his services.
Jain, has been on the US intelligence radar since he was spotted at the 2005 wedding of don Dawood’s daughter.
ED officials claim foreign currency worth over Rs 3 lakh, foreign bank accounts, unaccounted investments and incriminating hawala documents pointing towards transactions worth several thousand crore rupees were also unearthed during the raids.
The ED is also said to have identified nearly 40 front companies used for money laundering purposes.
