New Delhi, September 25
The Enforcement Directorate has claimed to have busted a hawala racket involving more than Rs 5,000 crore and seized incriminating documents during raids at eight premises belonging to NRI businessman Naresh Jain. The raids were conducted yesterday.
Known as “Hawala King”, Naresh had shifted his base to New Delhi from Dubai only about five months ago. According to sources, the raids came after US Home Land Security tipped the directorate about Naresh Jain’s links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and the Al-Qaida and his involvement in “terror-financing” across the globe through them.
Naresh has been booked under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), but could not be arrested so far. Meanwhile, preparations are on in the Home Ministry to issue a lookout notice in this regard.
According to information, the seized documents suggest Naresh was into drugs business, which spread to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Papers showing transactions worth several crores with several Pakistan and Afghanistan-based persons and entities were also found. Besides, Rs 60 lakh was seized from his residence at Pitam Pura in Delhi.
Naresh’s network reportedly spread to Nigeria, Italy, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Bolivia, Congo and Cooks Island, among several other countries. Sources claimed Naresh, along with his brothers Bimal and Satpal, used to undertake hawala operations for Dawood and even for the Al-Qaida.
He was arrested by the Dubai Police along with his associates in 2007 as part of their crackdown on money launderers following a tip-off by the UK crime agency.
