SURAT: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has arrested Surat-based financer Kishore Bhajiawala in a money laundering case relating to illegal conversion of scrapped currency notes.
Director of ED Karnal Singh in a tweet said, “”ED arrests Jignesh Kishorebhai Bhajiawala of Surat under PMLA for converting old currency to new illegally.”
The ED had registered a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Bhajiawala and his relatives after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR against him. The CBI had registered a case after the Income Tax department first conducted searches and seized gold and cash from his premises in Surat in December.
Bhajiawala is alleged to have laundered Rs 1.2 crore by using fake IDs for opening bank accounts. He had converted the scrapped currency post-demonetisation by colluding with bank officials and private persons by indulging in impersonation, forgery and presenting forged documents as genuine.
"An amount of over Rs 1.02 crore in new currency was seized by the I-T department from his premises during searches at his home, shop and bank lockers. The accused (Bhajiawala) had hired several bank lockers in benami names to stash the unaccounted assets," the ED has alleged in its case.