Hasan Ali in ED custody, will be grilled again

With the Supreme Court remanding the Pune-based real-estate agent and stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan in Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody for a day, the investigating agency has earned another 24 hrs to grill him. Debobrat Ghose reports. Timeline

With the Supreme Court remanding the Pune-based real-estate agent and stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan in Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody for a day, the investigating agency has earned another 24 hrs to grill him.

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The ED will look into various deals and transactions undertaking money-laundering route of Hasan Ali, who is accused of stashing black money abroad.

"ED will question Hasan Ali Khan and try to ascertain the truth behind the deals and transactions made by him both in India and abroad," a highly placed source said, requesting anonymity.

"The agency will also probe whether Hasan Ali, who was keen on buying a property in Switzerland with the help of an arms dealer, invested any money or not," the source said.

Allegedly the India's biggest tax evader Hasan Ali was arrested today by the ED, and was later produced in the Mumbai Sessions Court. The ED arrested him under violation of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Immediately after the arrest, he complained of illness and was taken to JJ Hospital for a medical check-up. After his release from the hospital the ED officials took him to the court.

The action on Hasan Ali comes immediately after the Supreme Court slammed the government over its inaction against the black money hoarders, and Hasan Ali in particular. The ED first issued a 'Look Out' circular against him on March 4 and raided his residence at Koregaon Park in Pune on March 7.

The ED conducted raids in 14 locations across the country on the same day, including at the residences of his associates Kashinath Tapuriah (Park Street, Kolkata) and Philip Raj Anand (Gurgaon).

However, claiming innocence, Hasan Ali has stated his arrest and action against him as a "political conspiracy".
Meanwhile, the apex court has questioned as to why the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) not be invoked against Hasan Ali and why he not be charged with the violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

There are allegations against Hasan Ali of money laundering, hawala operation, allegedly transferring cash and valuable assets outside the country by unlawful means with the help of foreign nationals, forgery and alleged to have connections with arms and terror networks abroad.

According to sources, Hasan Ali, who originally hails from Hyderabad is allegedly having connections with the Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, who in turn is having terror networks.

"There're documents, which points towards Hasan Ali's connections with Khashoggi, which needs further probing," the source added.

The investigators found unexplained wealth and huge fund transfers abroad by Hasan Ali. He is alleged to have stashed away over $8 billion in an account in UBS in Zurich (Switzerland).