The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out searches under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) on Naresh Kumar Kejriwal, a Chartered Accountant (CA) based in Jharkhand's Ranchi and suspected hawala operator, along with his family members as well as associates.
The searches were carried out across Ranchi, Maharashtra's Mumbai, and Gujarat's Surat.
What is the case
The ED action stems from Income Tax Department findings which reveal that Kejriwal controls undisclosed foreign shell entities in the UAE, Nigeria, and the USA – managed effectively from India – which have accumulated over ₹900 crore in unexplained reserves and routed approximately ₹1,500 crore back to India through bogus telegraphic transfers.
These foreign assets were not disclosed in statutory filings and appear to be vehicles for large-scale illicit fund layering, HT has learnt.
Investigators said the search aims to secure digital and documentary evidence related to the alleged unauthorised cross-border dealings.
In an unrelated case, the ED on Monday conducted searches at a dozen locations in connection with an FCRA "violation" case against a Maharashtra-based Trust, officials said.
The raids were undertaken at premises located in the Nandurbar district and in Mumbai in the case of Jamia Islamia Ishatul Uloom (JIIU) Trust, a Yemeni citizen Al-Khadami Khaled Ibrahim Saleh and others, they said, according to PTI news agency.
{{/usCountry}}The raids were undertaken at premises located in the Nandurbar district and in Mumbai in the case of Jamia Islamia Ishatul Uloom (JIIU) Trust, a Yemeni citizen Al-Khadami Khaled Ibrahim Saleh and others, they said, according to PTI news agency.
{{/usCountry}}The ED investigation is being conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The probe stems from an FIR filed by Nandurbar police (Akkalkuwa police station) and a subsequent chargesheet filed by it against the accused in April this year.