New Delhi, Sep 23 (UNI) Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said that it has arrested two accused Raj Kumar Goenka and Pankaj Agrawal on September 22 in a 2016 money laundering case, now linked for misuse of banking channels for hawala and huge cash transactions after demonetization.
Both the accused have been produced before Special PMLA Court and they have been sent to judicial custody while the probe agency will seek their custodial remand for interrogation.
According to ED, Raj Kumar Goenka and Ashok Kumar Goenka of Muzaffarpur had fraudulently opened several bank accounts by misusing photographs and documents of their employees and these were used for huge cash deposits without the knowledge of the account holders.
These cash deposits in the accounts were transferred by way of RTGS/NIFT to the Bank accounts of their associates located in various cities such as Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai while these persons used to receive cash against cheques from various entities and the cash so received used to be given to the person or entity of Goenka brothers at Muzaffarpur in Bihar.
The central probe agency initiated a probe against Goenka brothers on the basis of FIR No. 298/16 dated December 12, 2016 registered with Mithanpura police station in Muzaffarpur, Bihar for the offence punishable under section 120B, 420, 467 and 471 of IPC.
The investigation under PMLA revealed that proceeds of crime totalling to Rs 25.80 crore which were deposited in these bank accounts and were subsequently dishonestly transferred and layered through various bank accounts with an intention to launder the tainted money to project the same as untainted. Provisional attachment order dated December 4 last year was issued attaching assets worth Rs 4.61 crore.
“Search was conducted at Kolkata on the premises of Pankaj Agrawal and documents relating to shell companies controlled by him were recovered upon which it was revealed that Pankaj Agarwal was facilitating the money laundering at Kolkata in collusion with Raj Kumar Goenka at Muzaffarpur” ED officials said.
They also revealed that Pankaj Agrawal and Raj Kumar Goenka have also made huge investments in immovable and movable properties held in their own name, their family members and in the name of companies controlled by them.
