The case pertains to Watali violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (File)
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has asked a Kashmiri businessman to pay Rs 62 lakh as penalty for an alleged violation of the foreign exchange rules. The man, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, is already facing terror-funding charges.
The case pertains to Watali violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) by illegally opening non-resident savings accounts in an HSBC bank branch in Delhi by "faking" his non-resident Indian (NRI) status, the ED said in a statement.
The federal probe agency has issued a showcause notice after the completion of probe, the agency said.
"This is a case of operating NRE (non-resident external account) and NRO (non-resident ordinary account) in unauthorised manner," it said.
At the time of opening of these accounts, the ED said, Watali "submitted documents like a copy of the passport issued at Washington DC, resident visa claiming himself as a Non-Resident Indian. Whereas during this period he neither remained outside India for more than 182 days in the preceding financial year nor was his intention to remain outside India for an uncertain period."
During 2003 to 2009, Watali received inward remittances to the tune of Rs 62,93,711 in these accounts "on the strength of his fake NRI status, despite being a resident in India", the ED said.
Watali's holding of the accounts have been considered a contravention of the provisions of sections of FEMA, the agency said.
The Kashmiri businessman is already under the scanner of the ED and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on charges of alleged terror funding and his alleged links with banned Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and its chief Hafiz Saeed.
Watali, Hafiz Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and nine others have been accused by the NIA of "conspiring to wage a war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley.