The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized Rs 2.54 crore in "unexplained" cash during searches in various cities, including a portion of it concealed in a washing machine, in a case of alleged violation of the foreign exchange law.
The premises of several companies and their directors were searched, including Capricornian Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd, Laxmiton Maritime, Hindustan International, Rajnandini Metals Limited, Stawart Alloys India Pvt Ltd, Bhagyanagar Limited, Vinayak Steels Limited, and Vashishta Constructions Pvt Ltd. The directors and partners of these companies, namely Vijay Kumar Shukla, Sanjay Goswami, Sandeep Garg, and Vinod Kedia, among others, are also under investigation.
These searches were executed at various locations in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Kurukshetra in Haryana over the past few days, however, the ED did not disclose where the cash kept in the washing machine was recovered.
The action was undertaken based on "credible information" that the entities were involved in sending foreign exchange outside India "on a large-scale". They made "suspicious" outward remittances amounting to Rs 1,800 crore to Singapore's Galaxy Shipping and Logistics and Horizon Shipping and Logistics.
Both these overseas entities are managed by a person named Anthony De Silva. Capricornian Shipping and Logistics, Laxmiton Maritime, and their associates made outward remittances to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore to the Singapore-based entities under the guise of bogus freight services and imports.
These transactions were made through complex transactions with the help of shell entities like Neha Metals, Amit Steel Traders, Triple M Metal and Alloys, and HMS Metals.
During the search, unexplained cash amounting to Rs 2.54 crore, part of which was hidden in a washing machine, was found and seized. Various "incriminating" documents and digital devices were also seized during the raids. A total of 47 bank accounts of the entities involved have been frozen as well.
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