Chandigarh: Acting on a complaint received on March 18, 2024 and followed by intensive investigation, the Crime Branch of Haryana Police finally cracked illegal transfer of whopping Rs.700 crore abroad through fake companies.
As per official media handout, seven persons of the gang involved in the crime have been arrested. They include three from Delhi and others from Dehradun, Jhajjar, Sonipat, and Faridabad. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up for the purpose has filed a comprehensive chargesheets, in court, against five suspects.
The SIT was led by Additional Director General of Police, State Crime Branch, and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Gurugram.
Modus Operandi:
The gang allegedly transferred funds to fake company accounts by showing fictitious sales and purchases. Major account transactions were carried out by converting these rupees into dollars, which were then sent to foreign company accounts. The accused even rented goods from foreign companies and documented them as purchased; importing these goods only to later re-export those without receiving any payment back, as per the documents.
To avoid detection, the accused maintained separate addresses, bank records, and import-export documents for each company, making it challenging for authorities such as the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Customs, Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Central GST to track the discrepancies.
Collected Evidence:
During the raids, the police claimed to have seized a substantial amount of forged documents, as many as 26 mobile phones, laptops, company stamps, and other incriminating evidence. One of the arrested persons also has previous cases of murder and grievous harm registered against him.
Case Background:
During the investigation, it was uncovered that the accused had allegedly created fake companies in a systematic manner under the names of “dummy directors” to carry out illegal transactions.
These fake directors opened bank accounts with the cooperation of bank officials, completing the necessary e-KYC formalities, while the accused retained control over these accounts, including ATM cards, net banking credentials, and registered mobile SIMs. The companies falsely registered in the names of these dummies, operated imports and exports through Gujarat and Mumbai ports, claiming business transactions with foreign companies. By inflating the prices on invoices far beyond market rates, the accused funneled large amounts of money abroad and earned hefty commissions on each dollar transferred illegally.
