KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) which arrested Popular Finance MD Thomas Daniel and his daughter and CEO Rinu Mariam, is tracing the investments and deposits they made abroad. The ED suspects the lion’s share of the money from deposits and loans taken after mortgaging the gold pledged by its customers for loans were diverted to Australia and Dubai through hawala channels.
On Monday, the agency questioned the father-daughter duo for over six hours after which their arrest was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Popular Finance was a Ranni-based non-banking finance company (NBFC) operational since 1965. It had branches across Kerala, Karnataka, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
It had collected over Rs 2,000 crore from tens of thousands of investors promising higher returns. However, when depositors tried to withdraw their money following the Covid crisis, the firm failed to pay the returns and closed down its branches. Thomas Daniel, his wife Prabha and three children were arrested last year. The High Court then directed the CBI to take over the probe.
“The current assets and deposits are worth a little less than Rs 125 crore. It is revealed in our and police investigation that several investments were made by the accused in Australia and Dubai. We suspect the money was sent abroad via hawala channels. This is under investigation,” an ED official said.