ED says Harish Gahlot transferred money through hawala for buying two flats in Dubai

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized a flat in the posh Vasant Kunj area of Delhi and a land in Haryana worth Rs 1.48 crore in connection with a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and hawala case against Harish Gahlot. Harish Gahlot is Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot's brother.

The agency said it issued a seizure order under Section 37A of FEMA to freeze the flat and the land in Chauba village in Haryana in lieu of alleged illegal assets held abroad.

The ED in a statement alleged, "Investigation was initiated under FEMA, based on the information received from the Income Tax Department informing about the transfer of money to the tune of Rs 1 crore from India to Dubai through hawala channel by Harish Gahlot. The transfer of money was done through a Delhi-based hawala dealer for making advance payments toward the purchase of two flats in Dubai in September 2018."

Premises linked to the family and associates of Aam Aadmi Party leader Kailash Gahlot and Delhi transport minister, were raided by the Income Tax (I-T) Department in October last year. The properties of his brother Harish Gahlot were also searched.

The tax department searches were conducted as part of a tax evasion probe against two firms -- Brisk Infrastructure and Developers Pvt Ltd and Corporate International Financial Services Limited -- that are reportedly operated and owned by the family members of Kailash Gahlot.

Kailash Gahlot had denied any wrongdoing and the AAP has called the action a "political vendetta".

ED said its probe revealed that in September 2018, Harish Gahlot had given Rs 1 crore cash to his younger son Nitesh Gahlot, who is an NRI and studying in Dubai, for sending this money to Dubai allegedly through unauthorised hawala channel. This denotes skirting legal banking route to transfer money.

The investigating agency charged, "Nitesh Gahlot, through his contact, approached Inderpal Wadhawan, a Delhi-based hawala dealer for transferring the amount. Mr Wadhawan kept Rs 4 lakh with him as commission and illegally delivered Dirhams equivalent to Rs 96 lakh in Dubai, which was collected and deposited by the friend of Nitesh Gahlot in the Dubai bank account of Nitesh Gahlot."

ED further said that out of these funds, Nitesh Gahlot made payment to Dubai-based developers for booking of two flats allegedly in his father Harish Gahlot, his mother, his elder brother and himself.

"Investigation also revealed that on September 26, 2018 Harish Gahlot had sent Rs 50 lakh from his bank in India to the bank account of his son Nitesh Gahlot maintained in Dubai under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for the purpose code S0305 - Travel for Education Including Fees Hostel Expenses etc," the probe agency said.

However, the probe agency said, the said amount was "not used for intended purpose but actually used for booking of two flats in Dubai."