The Enforcement Directorate has evidence suggesting that Gitanjali Gems and Nirav Modi companies routed Rs 2,000 crore back into the country through the hawala route, a senior official who did not want to be named, told Moneycontrol.
The Enforcement Directorate has evidence suggesting that Gitanjali Gems and Nirav Modi companies routed Rs 2,000 crore back into the country through the hawala route, a senior official who did not want to be named, told Moneycontrol.
Gitanjali Gems and Nirav Modi companies are at the centre of a Rs 13,000 crore-plus scam in which Punjab National Bank was defrauded through unauthorised letters of understanding (LoUs).
The two jewellery firms had raised money from overseas branches of Indian banks, on the basis of the unauthorised LoUs.
The ED says that a part of that money was then brought back into the country.
The agency has also found evidence of inter-state money transfers by one of the biggest hawala operators in the country. This operator was very active in a Mumbai-based steel company whose promoters had siphoned off money, and is being investigated by the ED.
“We are investigating all aspects in this case and the hawala transfer is one such area. Our leads so far will help us further investigate this,” the above-mentioned official told Moneycontrol.
The agency is also investigating 17 overseas companies which received funds from the fraudulent LoUs issued by Punjab National Bank. Of these companies, five were mentioned in the second FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation.