2 min readNew DelhiAug 31, 2019 04:27 AM IST
First published on: Aug 31, 2019 at 04:20 AM IST
Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali’s property in Gurgaon, which was raided by the ED. (PTI)
Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali has been slapped with a penalty of Rs 62 lakh for violating Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules.
Watali is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly funneling funds from Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed into Kashmir to fuel unrest in the Valley.
The Adjudication Authority under FEMA has fined Watali for operating a Non-Resident External (NRE) and Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account at a Delhi branch of HSBC Bank “in an unauthorised name”, the ED said on Friday. It said the authority slapped the penalty on Watali after adjudication proceedings against him.
The agency had earlier issued a showcause notice of the same value to Watali.
The ED said it began an investigation after receiving information about several suspicious foreign exchange transactions. During the probe, it was revealed that Watali was maintaining Non-Resident Saving Accounts in HSBC Bank, GK-I, New Delhi.
“At the time of opening of these accounts, Watali had submitted documents, namely a copy of a passport issued in Washington DC, resident visa etc, claiming himself as a Non-Resident Indian, whereas during this period, he neither remained outside India for more than 182 days in the preceding financial year, nor was his intention to remain outside India for an uncertain period,” an ED statement said.
From 2003-2009, Watali received inward remittances to the tune of Rs 62,93,711 in these accounts, ED has claimed.
“He continued holding the accounts and allowed remittances and thereby contravened the provisions of Section 4 and section 6(3) (f) of FEMA, 1999, read with Schedule 1 of Regulation 5(1)(i) of the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulation, 2000. Accordingly, a Show Cause Notice was issued to Watali on the basis of complaints filed under-section 16(3) of FEMA 1999,” the statement said.
The ED had earlier attached Watali’s properties worth close to Rs 9 crore in connection with the terror funding case it is probing against him. Watali, along with other nine accused in the case, is under judicial custody at Tihar Jail, Delhi.
Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali’s property in Gurgaon, which was raided by the ED. (PTI)
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