ED conducts raids in Mumbai, Surat; seizes Rs 6.30 crore in money laundering case
ED conducts raids in Mumbai as part of an ongoing investigation into Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd for money laundering activities.
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches at four locations across Mumbai and Surat as part of its probe into M/s Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd (Torres Jewellery) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The investigation revealed large-scale Hawala transactions, leading to the seizure of Rs 6.30 crore in cash and incriminating digital evidence.
As per an ED release, Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office conducted searches across Mumbai and Surat on May 9 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at 4 premises as a part of the ongoing probe in the case of M/s Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd under the brand name “Torres Jewellery.”
ED initiated an investigation based on a complaint registered by the APMC Police Station, Vashi, Navi Mumbai.
“ED investigation revealed that M/s Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd has collected huge cash from its customers instead of the sale of Moissanite Diamonds and other jewellery. Instead of using the said cash for its legitimate business purposes, the said cash has been routed through Hawala operators and later converted into USDT cryptocurrency,” the release read.
The key person, Alpesh Khara, not only facilitated the collection of huge cash from Torres showrooms across Mumbai on the instructions of Oleksandr Zapichenko alias Alex and Ms Olena Stoian but also assisted them in converting the said cash into USDT cryptocurrency. Alpesh Khara was arrested by the ED on March 26 and was in the custody of the ED from March 26 to April 1.
“It was revealed during the investigation that Alpesh Khara was one of the franchise owners of a known Angadia entity, which has branches across India, and huge cash has been exchanged hands through those branches of Angadias as well as other various Hawala Operators,” the release read.
ED carried out searches at those Angadias / Hawala Operators at Mumbai and Surat, who assisted in facilitating such Hawala transactions at Mumbai and Surat, resulting in the seizure of huge cash of Rs 6.30 crore as well as incriminating digital devices. Earlier searches conducted in this case on January 23 resulted in freezing of bank accounts totalling Rs 21.75 crore and seizure of incriminating documents and digital devices.
Further investigation is in progress.
