Watali is being probed by the NIA and the ED for allegedly pushing funds from LeT's Hafiz Saeed into Kashmir to fuel unrest in the Valley
Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali, who is lodged in Tihar jail in an alleged terror funding case, was slapped with a penalty of around Rs 62 lakh under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on Friday.
The Adjudication Authority under FEMA, after conducting the adjudication proceedings, held Watali guilty of operating Non-Resident Rupee (NRE) and Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO) accounts in HSBC Bank at New Delhi in an unauthorised manner.
Watali is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly pushing funds from LeT's Hafiz Saeed into Kashmir to fuel unrest in the Valley.
WHAT PROBE FOUND
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| The Adjudication Authority under FEMA held Watali guilty of operating Non-Resident Rupee (NRE) and Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO) accounts in an unauthorised manner |
During investigation under FEMA, it was found that Watali was maintaining both NRE & NRO accounts in HSBC Bank, Greater Kailash-I. At the time of opening these accounts, he had submitted the copy of a passport issued at Washington DC and a resident visa which showed him to be a Non-Resident Indian. However, when he opened the accounts, he had neither been outside India for more than 182 days in the preceding financial year nor did he have an intention to remain outside the country for an uncertain period.
During the period of 2003 to 2009, Watali received inward remittances to the tune of Rs 62,93,711.
Earlier, in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case, the ED had attached Watali's properties worth Rs 8.94 crore. ED had said that Watali was found to be involved in fund-raising and was a financial conduit for Hurriyat Leaders.
The NIA investigation had disclosed that the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and other secessionists instigate the general public, especially the youth, to observe strikes and issue directives to the masses to hold anti-India protests, demonstrations and processions through press releases, newspapers and social media.
"The secessionists instigate the masses to resort to violence, especially stone-pelting against the security forces at encounter sites and also after the dispersal of Friday prayers. This has been done willfully to create such circumstances which will arouse disaffection among the people of Jammu & Kashmir towards the Government of India," the ED had stated.
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