In a post-demonetisation money laundering case, Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (18 January) said that it had recovered 146 kg of gold jewellery with a value of Rs 82 crore from the premises of a Hyderabad-based jeweller, reports The Hindu BusinessLine (BL).

It is alleged that the accused fabricated 5,200 back-dated advance sale receipts dated 8 November (2016) for amounts less than Rs 2 lakh to avoid having to give PAN details. It was the same day on which Prime Minister Modi announced the demonetization exercise.

“For tracing the proceeds of crime, simultaneous searches were conducted in the premises of the accused persons which resulted in the seizure of 145.89 kg of gold jewellery worth ₹ 82.11 crore,” said ED in a statement.

Describing how the operating was carried out to launder the money, ED said that the accused “illegally deposited Rs 110.85 crore in their bank account falsely claiming that within a few hours they had received advances of less than Rs 2 lakh each from more than 5,200 customers on the night of November 8,...for purchase of gold and jewellery from their firms.”

Misuse Of Demonetisation

The authorities had filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the accused.

The investigation resulted from an FIR of the Telangana Police and a complaint from the Income Tax Department for “blatantly misusing the scheme of demonetisation by illegally depositing huge amounts of unaccounted demonetised cash in their accounts.”

Also Read: How Demonetisation Increased Tax Compliance And Tax Base