Hawala operator, firms booked for ₹100-crore laundering racket; EOW probes bank staff role

Mumbai police's EOW has charged hawala operator Madanlal Jain for allegedly siphoning ₹100 crore abroad using forged documents and shell companies.

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has registered a case against an alleged hawala operator and his shell companies for siphoning off crores of rupees abroad using forged documents. Officials said the accused, identified as Madanlal Jain, is also under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a separate money-laundering probe.

Hawala operator, firms booked for ₹100-crore laundering racket; EOW probes bank staff role

According to the police, Jain floated multiple firms, Geeta Exim Private Limited, Vibha Exim Private Limited and Pehal Inpex Private Limited, claiming they were engaged in diamond trading and road construction. Investigators allege that between 2010 and 2015, these entities existed largely on paper and were used to route illicit funds overseas.

The FIR, registered on the complaint of EOW assistant police inspector Sarang Chavan, states that forged invoices and receipts were generated in the names of these companies to justify large financial transactions. Based on these documents, crores of rupees were transferred through the firms and then remitted to foreign countries, causing an estimated loss of ₹100 crore to the state exchequer, an officer said.

Police further alleged that bank accounts for the firms were opened using the identities of two employees of a jeweller. Though the companies listed their head offices in Surat, Gujarat, investigators found no evidence of genuine business activity.

Officials said certain employees of a South Mumbai-based multinational bank are under scrutiny for allegedly failing to carry out proper due diligence while opening the accounts. The ED is already probing the accused in a separate case involving alleged bogus imports under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The EOW has booked Jain, his firms and unidentified bank staff under Indian Penal Code sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 465, 467, 468 and 471 (forgery-related offences) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). Further investigation is underway.