The Income Tax (I-T) Department on August 11 said it conducted search operations at various Chinese entities.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case of money laundering against a Chinese national in connection to a hawala racket worth an estimated Rs 1,000 crore.
Charlie Peng, who also goes by the name of Luo Sang, has been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The racket, which was allegedly run by Peng, used shell companies.
The Income Tax (I-T) Department on August 11 said it conducted search operations at various Chinese entities.
PTI reported that searches were conducted at two dozen premises of Peng and some of his alleged associates, including Indians, and bankers.
Also Read: Income Tax officials raid premises of Chinese entities, target hawala deals with Indian affiliates
The ED has taken cognisance of the tax department evidence and action and a Delhi Police Special Cell FIR against Peng before filing the criminal case of money laundering against him.
Peng, according to sources cited by PTI, is alleged to be holding a fake Indian passport and tax officials had said he created a "web of sham companies to launder hawala funds to and from China" in the past two-three years.
They said his front or showcase business was import and export of medical and electronic goods and some other items.
Peng, the sources said, was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in September, 2018 on charges of fraud and forgery and was allegedly running an illegal money changer.
It is alleged that Peng got a fake Indian passport from Manipur after marrying a woman from that state and some fake Aadhaar cards were also recovered during the raids against him, PTI reported.
Peng is currently being questioned by the tax department apart from central intelligence agencies.
The tax department is searching dozens of bank accounts linked to shell firms in this case even as it has issued prohibitory orders against a number of these accounts.
Both the I-T department and the ED, sources said, are also probing allegations if Peng was "bribing" some Tibetans living in Delhi for getting some work done from them.
The CBDT had issued a statement last week and without taking any names had said that the searches were launched based on "credible inputs that a few Chinese individuals and their Indian associates were involved in money laundering and hawala transactions through a series of shell entities."
"Evidences of foreign hawala transactions involving Hong Kong and US dollars have also been unearthed," the CBDT added.
(With inputs from PTI)