ED unearths Rs 1,000-crore hawala nexus
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claims to have unearthed a Rs 1,000-crore hawala racket with Jalandhar-based money changer Happy Forex emerging as the kingpin of the racket. Happy Forex was raided on February 1 this year, after the department received inputs on its alleged role in hawala transactions.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claims to have unearthed a Rs 1,000-crore hawala racket with Jalandhar-based money changer Happy Forex emerging as the kingpin of the racket.
Happy Forex was raided on February 1 this year, after the department received inputs on its alleged role in hawala transactions.
"Investigations have shown that six months before the February raid at Happy Forex, it made hawala transactions of more than Rs 1,000 crore with countries like Canada, the UK, USA and Germany," an ED source told HT.
"We are investigating the links between the hawala money and match fixing in IPL, as there is some possibility that this could be the money that gets passed around. However, we have no solid leads on this yet."
Investigations have shown that more than 100 money changers across the state sold foreign currency to Happy Forex, in violation of RBI guidelines.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the ED seized Rs 47.50 lakh of unaccounted money from two money changers in the region.
"We raided Transworld Money Changer, Phagwara, and Sonu Forex, Nakodar, and recovered Rs 29 lakh and Rs 18.50 lakh, respectively, in hawala money," a highly-placed ED source told HT.