ED raids at 8 shell companies in city, bust money laundering scam

The Enforcement Directorate initiated investigations against Galaxy Impex, Snowcity & Co, B K Electro Tools Products, Green International, Metal Tradus and Horizon Trading. They found that these companies had been sending money abroad after declaring it as advance for scheduled import of products to run their businesses.

However, customs documents revealed that no such imports had taken place during the scheduled dates and these companies were involved in money laundering. 

ED sources said cases would be registered against these companies under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). 

“Such imports never happened and initial investigations have revealed that such shell companies were formed only to convert the demonetised currency to legal tenders in bulk. Many such companies were formed by prominent politicians to deposit black money with their counterparts abroad in connivance,” a senior ED official told the DTNext. The raids were part of a country-wide operation and searches were conducted at 100 locations in 16 states.