mumbai

Updated: Oct 25, 2017 00:23 IST

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested former director of Raghukul Diamonds Private Limited in connection with a fake import remittances case.

Sanjay Jain has been remanded in ED custody till Thursday.

This is the third arrest in the case after Saurabh Pandit, director of a Hong Kong-based company and Anil Chokhra, former director of Kanika Gems.

In 2015, the ED had registered a case under money laundering provisions based on an FIR registered by the IndusInd Bank.

The agency investigations revealed that three jewel trading companies – Yogeshwar Diamonds, Charbhuja Diamonds and Kanika Gems – had dubiously conducted foreign remittances.

The ED alleged that the companies had made fraudulent overseas remittances, flouting banking laws. They also made payments towards non-existent imports by submitting fake bills to banks. “The accused conspired among them and through IndusInd bank branches remitted Indian currency,” the ED alleged.

“The investigations revealed that Rs518 crore has been remitted outside but the figure is going to rise,” said a senior officer. “The accused forged serial number of bills and submitted them to IndusInd Bank after which illegal remittance was conducted to shell companies in Hong Kong and UAE.”

A bill of entry is a declaration made by an importer/exporter. In this case, genuine imports were shown through fake bills, while crores were illegally remitted outside the country.

ED said that Jain has indulged in generating huge funds and has managed bank accounts with the intention of laundering funds through dubious companies.

“Jain said he left the directorship of Raghukul Diamonds Pvt Ltd. However, he continued to look after the accounts. He said that the company did not deal in diamonds but had been opened to provide billing and RTGS facilities to Hawala operators,” the agency told court.