Illegal foreign remittance case: ED conducts searches at 11 places in Mumbai, Thane and Varanasi

“The search operations unveiled a network of RTGS entry operators who used to arrange the RTGS entries in bank accounts of partnership firms which is layered through bank accounts of shell entities to conceal the origin of the funds,” ED said.

The funds were finally placed in the bank accounts of 12 private limited companies purportedly in the business of freight and logistics and remitted abroad in the guise of freight charges, it added.

ED said the role of several chartered accountants helping the accused in the incorporation of the companies and with regulatory compliances has also emerged.

During its money laundering probe, ED found that the accused set up 98 dummy partnership firms and 12 private limited companies. They also opened about 269 bank accounts in their name to execute illicit financial transactions through them.

ED began the money laundering investigation after the Thane police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against a man, Jitendra Pandey, and four associates in October 2023. Pandey and other accused were subsequently arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Thane police.

They were accused of making remittances over Rs 10,000 crore to entities in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand in the guise of freight charges through a web of bank accounts opened in the name of shell entities.