ED arrests hawala operator and smuggler Bhimendra Kumar Goyal @munna in Rs 1500 Cr fraud

Vishakapatnam: The Sleuths of Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested fugitive Bhimendra Kumar Goyal @ B.K.Goyal @ Munna Goyal in a multi-crore hawala racket. The man is accused of money laundering by sending compensatory hawala payments abroad for importing under-valued goods into India.

Goyal was absconding for many years and was suspected to be hiding in Singapore until lately when he was arrested and lodged in Tihar Jail. Based on orders, he was moved to Vizag where the ED has arrested him and sought custody for 5 days.

The ED’s Investigation is based on an FIR registered by Andhra Pradesh Police against one Vaddi Mahesh and others following a complaint filed by Income tax department.

Investigation revealed that, Vaddi Mahesh along with others had established several shell companies and subsequently opened bank accounts. The accused remitted huge amounts of foreign outward remittances equivalent to Rs 1500 Crore to various companies in Singapore, China and Hong Kong in the guise of import of non-existent ‘customised software’. Vaddi admitted to the investigators that he was acting on the instruction of Bhimendra Kumar Goyal.

Besides this,The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence found Bhimendra Kumar Goyal’s involvement in smuggling of goods. 'He hoodwinked the customs duty for import of under-value goods. Several bank accounts were used to send hawala payments abroad, as compensatory payments for the goods smuggled into India by him. Funds were diverted from one bank account to another, in layers make detection difficult. Entry operators deposited cash using proprietary firms avoid detection".

It is suspected that the accused has offered their services on commission to other importers who were

importing goods from China, HongKong at under-valued prices to avoid customs duty.