ED Busts Suspected Rs 900 Crore Hawala Network Connected to Ranchi CA
On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on Naresh Kumar Kejriwal, a Chartered Accountant (CA) based in Jharkhand (Ranchi) and suspected hawala operator, along with his family members and associates.
The investigations were carried out in Ranchi, Mumbai, and Surat. The investigation is a part of a case involving Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations linked to a suspected hawala network valued at over Rs 900 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate took action after the Income Tax Department’s initial inspections suggested that Naresh Kumar Kejriwal was secretly running foreign shell companies in the UAE, Nigeria, and the USA. These companies were actually controlled from India and had collected more than Rs 900 crore in money that couldn’t be explained. Out of this, about Rs 1,500 crore was allegedly sent back to India through fake telegraphic transfers to make the money look legitimate.
An official added, “As these foreign assets were not declared in statutory filings and appear to be vehicles for large-scale illicit fund layering, the searches are critical to secure incriminating digital and documentary evidence of these unauthorized cross-border dealings.”
