‘Digital arrest’, Rs 1.15 cr fraud: ED searches 10 locations in and outside Gujarat

The searches were conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

ED said that during probe, it was revealed that the said amount of Rs 1.15 crore was subsequently transferred to bogus bank accounts maintained in the name of M/s Quality Fruit Traders and M/s Shivam Charitable Trust. The trail revealed that the money was immediately transferred out to multiple other bank accounts across India. Amounts of around Rs 5-10 lakh each were tranferred to these accounts through various modes such as RTGS, UPI & IMPS. Subsequently, either cash was withdrawn or the amounts were further transferred through IMPS to various parties.

The search operations resulted in the recovery and seizure of various allegedly “incriminating digital records”, substantial information about various Hawala operations and other documents, along with a seizure of around Rs 3 lakh in bank accounts. Further investigation is in progress.