FEMA case: ED seizes Rs 2.54 crore in cash including wads hidden in washing machine
New Delhi, Mar 26: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has seized Rs 2.54 crore "unexplained" cash, including a part of it hidden in a washing machine, during searches in various cities linked to a case of alleged violation of the foreign exchange law.
The premises of companies like Capricornian Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd and its directors Vijay Kumar Shukla and Sanjay Goswami and associated entities Laxmiton Maritime, Hindustan International, Rajnandini Metals Limited, Stawart Alloys India Pvt Ltd, Bhagyanagar Limited, Vinayak Steels Limited, Vashishta Constructions Pvt Ltd and their directors/partners Sandeep Garg, Vinod Kedia and others were searched, it said in a statement.
The central agency did not say when these searches were executed at various locations in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Kurukshetra in Haryana.
It also did not mention from where the cash kept in the washing machine was recovered.
The action was undertaken on the basis of "credible information" that the entities were involved in sending foreign exchange outside India "on a large- scale" and made "suspicious" outward remittances amounting to Rs 1,800 crore to Galaxy Shipping and Logistics Pte Ltd. and Horizon Shipping and Logistics Pte Ltd, Singapore.
Both these overseas entities are managed by a person named Anthony De Silva, it said.
Capricornian Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd, Laxmiton Maritime along with its associates made outward remittance to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore to the Singapore-based entities in the garb of bogus freight services, imports and layering them through web of complex transactions with the help of shell entities like Neha Metals, Amit Steel Traders, Triple M Metal and Alloys and HMS Metals.
During the course of the search, unexplained cash amounting to Rs 2.54 crore, part of which was hidden in a washing machine, was found and all of this amount has been seized apart from various "incriminating" documents and digital devices.
A total of 47 bank accounts have been frozen as well, the ED said.
ED has conducted searches under the provisions of FEMA,1999 at the premises of M/s. Capricornian Shipping & Logistics Pvt Ltd and its directors Vijay Kumar Shukla and Sanjay Goswami and associated entities M/s. Laxmiton Maritime, M/s. Hindustan International, M/s. Rajnandini… pic.twitter.com/0EDzrjrlRJ
— ED (@dir_ed) March 26, 2024
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Advocate found dead in car on Nainital court premises
Nainital (PTI): A 55-year-old advocate allegedly died by suicide after shooting himself inside his car at the Nainital district court parking lot here on Monday, police said.
According to the police, Puran Singh Bhakuni, a resident of Mallital, was found in the rear seat of his vehicle with a gunshot wound to his temple.
Police recovered a licensed pistol from his hand and a suicide note from the car’s dashboard. The note stated that Bhakuni was unwell and suffering from depression.
"We received information through lawyers around noon. The deceased was lying in the back seat with a pistol in his hand and blood near his ear," Circle Officer Anjana Negi said.
Forensic teams and ballistic experts reached the spot to collect evidence, as no witness reported hearing the gunshot.
Government counsel Sushil Sharma stated that Bhakuni left home at 9 am and was found dead at 9.30 am.
Sharma raised concerns over the circumstances, noting that the body was in the rear seat, and demanded a thorough probe to rule out foul play. Bhakuni, who worked as a notary, had married six months ago, he said.
Police took the body into custody and sent it for a postmortem to confirm the cause of death.
The forensic laboratory will examine the suicide note and the ballistics of the weapon, the police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
