The ED has started cracking the whip on Chinese mobile phone importers after a leading importer was found involved in a hawala racket
The Enforcement Directorate has started cracking the whip nationwide on Chinese mobile phone importers after a leading importer was found involved in a transnational hawala racket running into several hundreds of crores.
The operator is said to be in varied businesses, including construction, and has wide interests across north India.
The importer’s statement to the investigating agency blew the cover of at least 200 small-time phone importers across the country, that were bringing illegal phones into India using the hawala network.
Terming him a big catch, the official said, “He was not just involved in importing Chinese phones on the basis of fake documents but was a key conduit of hawala transactions for several importers in India.”
Directorate officials told DNA that the arrest confirmed fears about close links between Chinese mobile phone importers and hawala operators.
The operator came under the directorate’s scanner when he branched off into the mobile phone import business in a big way a few years back. “He has been under our scanner for a year,” a senior directorate official said. Five of his offices in Delhi have been searched by directorate sleuths and Indian currency close to Rs1 crore, besides one lakh foreign currency has been recovered.
Incriminating documents, including details of foreign bank accounts, foreign accounts of other mobile operators, documents pertaining to unaccounted investments and blank invoices have been recovered in the raids.
According to senior directorate officials, the accused was maintaining foreign bank accounts in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The accused was reportedly buying illegal mobile phones in China and sending them across to India with fake export documents showing an undervalued price. Here, the consignments are received through fake import invoices.
The imported phones were illegally manufactured and did not bear security features like the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. According to unofficial estimates, the illegal Chinese phones have almost 40% of the market.
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