CHENNAI: Properties worth Rs 7 crore of Anantha Padmanabhan, Chairman of the All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC), the national apex body of the gems and jewellery industry, were attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a bogus import case.
According to the ED, these immovable properties of Padmanaban, a Chennai based bullion trader and jewellery merchant, were attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, (PMLA) in a bogus import case involving AfrozFatta and RA Distributors Pvt. Ltd.
The attached assets consist of 9600 square feet of land along with commercial buildings including basement, stilt, ground and four floors totalling 20,292 square feet situated at T Nagar which is held in the name of NAC Jewellers (P) Ltd of Anantha Padmanaban.
An investigation under the PMLA was initiated on the basis of a complaint received by the Crime Branch, Surat, from ICICI Bank against RA Distributors Pvt. Ltd and others alleging that the companies had prepared fake bills of entry and presented the same before ICICI Bank for illegal outward remittance in the guise of imports.
Investigations conducted by the ED revealed that nine companies having accounts in ICICI Bank, Surat, remitted huge amounts of money on the basis of forged bills of entry to three companies in the UAE and 15 companies in Hong Kong.
The main sources of credits in these accounts were from eight entities including Vandana & Co., Natural Trading Co., Maruti Trading etc. having accounts in Axis Bank along with 469 others. The eight entities having accounts in Axis Bank had received funds through various cheque discounters and a web of around 2700 companies.
It was further revealed that Afroz Mohamed Hasanfatta, Madanlal Jain, Bilal Haroon Gilani, Jayesh Desai and Rakesh Kothari were involved in this racket. These accused created shell companies using dummy persons as directors or partners.
Investigations further revealed that Madanlal Jain, the main conspirator, had earned a commission for his role in the illegal transactions of foreign remittances made on the strength of fake bills of entry. Part of the commission to the tune of Rs 7 crore was routed to the bank account of NAC Jewellers (P) Ltd, a company controlled by Anantha Padmanaban.
It was also established that this transaction has been carried out by N Anantha Padmanaban with full knowledge that the money so received was tainted and that the money was utilized in furthering the business of NAC Jewellers (P) Ltd by him.
In order to cover up these transactions, Madanlal Jain prepared bogus invoices of sale or purchase of diamonds between NAC Jewellers and Natural Trading Co. to suggest that the diamonds were purchased from NAC Jewellers by Natural Trading Co, a company controlled by Madanlal Jain.
Earlier, the ED had arrested Afroz Mohamed Hasanfatta, Madanlal Jain, Manish Shah, Rakesh Kothari and Jayesh Desai and attached their properties worth Rs 34.29 crore and filed five prosecution complaints before the designated special court. Further investigations are in progress.