Hyderabad: Yet another hawala racket busted, Rs 1 27 cr seized

Introduced by the National hawala agents in indias Corporation of India and the RBI in 2015, the Unified Payment Interface is an easy way to transfer money in real-time from one bank to another. Here, the UPI ID acts as the virtual payment address, and UPI PIN is the security password to authenticate the transaction. UPI eliminates the need to enter complex bank account details to initiate a money transfer. Next in line was wire transfer, the electronic mode to transfer money through a global network. It was known for its fast, irreversible, foreign, or domestic electronic money transfers. In the 19th century, Western Union was the first money transfer operator to introduce wire transfers.

This transaction works purely on the basis of trust that the person holds on the hawaladar. There is no promissory note present in these kinds of transactions, this is completely based on the trust and journal balances of both the hawaladars. There are restrictions also imposed under Article 4,5,6 and 7 of the FEMA Act. As the Hawala dealers do not comply with the above article, the transactions carried out by them are illegal. Enter into any financial transaction in India as consideration for or in association with acquisition or creation or transfer of a right to acquire, any asset outside India by any person.

What is a Hawala Transaction?

The hawala money was being sent through South Africa to Surat and Mumbai in India, Mohd Yaseen revealed during interrogation. Furthermore, the officials revealed that the money illegally funded from overseas sources was used to finance terror-related activities in the Valley. Out of which he transferred Rs. 17 lacs to terror operatives in J&K, through two different couriers and the remaining Rs. 7 lacs have been recovered from him. “During interrogation, Yaseen revealed that the hawala money was sent from South Africa via Surat and Mumbai.

The word basically is supposed to have originated in the region of South Asia. This parallel and unofficial system of transferring money and other valuables works out side the periphery of banks, financial institutes and other recognised and formal financial systems. The accused was operating from Meena Bazar, Delhi, under cover of being a garment trader. As a conduit, he received money from overseas sources and delivered it to terror operatives in the Valley.

Identified as Mohammad Yaseen, the accused was arrested at the Jammu bus stand possessing the terror funding amount of Rs 10 lakh. Altaf and Javed hailed from Rajkot’s Dhoraji village, the officer added. While Javed has been living in Agripada for a long time, Altaf had come to Mumbai in 2009 and had allegedly been working for Javed’s hawala network.

Hyderabad: Yet another hawala racket busted, Rs 1.27 cr seized

Kerala – especially some northern districts – is a major outlet for gold jewellery. Insiders reveal Rs 200 crore comes to India daily through the hawala channel from the Gulf, out of which 70 per cent is used for gold smuggling. With gold supplies hit and the beginning of the wedding season, the metal will be procured from all sources. According to a police source, the accused recently received Rs. 24 lacs from a source based in South Africa. “They utilized ‘Hawala transactions’- the informal network of money remitting business commonly used in the middle east to transfer money – to move their narcotic proceeds out of Italy and into a financial network based in UAE, among other places. Most of the money transferred through Hawala is being done by people who are wanted criminals by many of the country’s governments.

• Around 40 cases of hawala and money-laundering are reportedly being investigated by the Directorate of Enforcement .
• Hawala system charges a very minimal amount of money as commission whereas foreign exchange banks will drain money through commission.
• FERA was revised and made several amendments as the process of globalisation, liberalisation, and privation was implemented in India.
• The agency has identified more than 942 bank accounts and 554 shell companies used by Jain for moving the money illegally.

For the latest updates, news blogs, and articles related to micro, small and medium businesses , business tips, income tax, GST, salary, and accounting. All that is typically required to transfer funds using the hawala system is the name and contact information of the hawala broker. Under the ED’s probe scanner are some “big corporates and a large foreign exchange company”, ED sources had earlier told .

The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999

The hawaladar rings up an agent in India and tells them to pay me the money. The official said Thursday’s seizure included Rs 68 lakh in Indian currency and 1000 Singapore dollars, nine gold biscuits weighing total 300 gram from the shop of Shahid Ali. Rs 12 lakh in Indian currency was recovered from the Orange Palace hotel in Chennai.

“He works as a conduit for hawala money, collecting funds received from sources based abroad and delivering it to terror operatives in Jammu and Kashmir. During questioning, the accused disclosed that the hawala money was being sent from South Africa to Surat and Mumbai,” Dhaliwal added. The norms regarding hawala are extremely stringent, but the agencies are unable to curb it because of the sheer magnitude of the transactions.

It was used as one of the modes of transferring money from one person to another who lives in different places. It is one of the traditional banking system, where it is connected with the set of hawaladars. These kinds of traditional banking system induced a major impact on the formation of the present-day banking system.

Officials found that Rs. 3300 crore amount of fund was being transferred illegally by making fake contractual obligations. And also they found unexplained cash of Rs. 4.19 Crore and unaccounted jewellery of worth Rs. 3.2 crore. Hawala transactions are those transactions which are not regulated by the Central Bank that is, Reserve Bank of India . These transactions are made through the intermediaries called hawaladars.

Businesses also use it to send money to suppliers in other countries. The central probe agency said it has filed a prosecution complaint or charge sheet against Jain and others under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act before a special court here on October 28. On information, the J&K police arrested Abdul Hamid Mir from Jammu bus stand with the amount. The accused was under cover as a garment trader and was operating from Meena Bazar, Delhi.

The money involved was about 18 million US dollars that is equal to Rs. 650 million. Advani, V.C. Shukla, P.Shiv Shankar, Sharad Yadav, Balram Jakhar, and Madam Lal Khurana and many others. Jain hawala diary case is said to be the biggest hawala scam in the history of independent India, nearly 115 top politicians, businessmen, film industry people and bureaucrats of Kashmir were involved in this scandal. This all started with the search for the funding of the terrorist money which was sent to Hizbul Mujahideen organisation of Kashmiri militants.

If he sent this money through Authorized dealer, he receives rupees at prevailing exchange rate of INR 19/AED. The exchange rate for the same in uncontrolled is INR 22/AED. Hawala is used by a number of the Indian diaspora in African & Middle East countries to send money home. This is because it is cheaper than the formal remittance services, and many migrants do not have access to banks.

There are several illegal immigrants who chose to transfer money through a hawala transaction since they cannot approach banks due to their illegal immigration status. In March 2007, Hasan Ali’s properties were raided by India’s Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax officials based on allegations of hawala transactions. Hawala gives an opportunity for the black money diggers to convert their black money into white by transferring the black money to a foreign country without any knowledge of the regulators like RBI, Income tax etc.

During the checking of a two-wheeler at Himayat Nagar, the police found the unaccounted cash and arrested two hawala agents in connection with the case. The sender and the receiver of money have to be legal entities in their respective locations. The money being transferred has to be legal, after meeting with every applicable tax obligation, with their respective governments. But the money being transferred through Hawala is never subjected to any of these legal regulations. This makes this system of money transfer illegal, because it deprives the related governments of their legitimate tax revenues.

Over a period of time he got into hawala transactions and would deliver any amount of money to any person in India, China or any other country across the globe. He invested either directly or through nominees and entities and made huge profits through transactions that were later termed as ‘wash’ or unreal transactions by the US government, according to the second officer cited above. A maze of 554 shell or dubious firms, at least 940 suspect bank accounts and fund transfers of over Rs 1.07 lakh crore are under the scanner of the agency in this probe, touted to be one of the biggest hawala and trade-based money-laundering cases of the country.

Hawala money transfer

Over a thousand people, of the town’s population of 53,986, are said to be directly linked to the kuzhal panam or ‘tube money’ operations, as hawala is known locally. A senior Enforcement Directorate official estimates that Koduvally’s hawala operators do transactions worth around Rs 150 crore a day, among the largest such underground cash operations in the country. Days after the RBI’s November hawala agents in india 8 withdrawal of high-denomination currency notes, Kerala’s hawala network went into complete paralysis. The illegal hawala pipeline funnels what the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the Kerala police estimate to be Rs 40,000 crore between the Gulf countries and India’s southern-most state. Overnight, this parallel banking network was stuck with useless currency worth thousands of crores.

Consult a professional before relying on the information to make any legal, financial or business decisions. Khatabook will not be liable for any false, inaccurate or incomplete information present on the website. Hawala brokers can typically tailor their services to meet the needs of their clients. Unlike banks and financial institutions, they can provide various services and are not bound by any restrictions.

The term depends upon the amount involved in the transaction, if the amount of transaction is exceeding one crore rupees then the imprisonment term may go up to three years. If the amount is less than one crore then it is six months compulsory and it will increase till the person makes full payment of his penalty. ‘HAWALA’ is an informal, unregulated mode of transferring foreign currencies to and fro in a country. This system works and operates in a similar fashion to the formal banks without any paperwork, questioning and accountability.

Hawala brokers typically have a good reputation and are trusted by their clients. Therefore, the system is run on trust and personal relationships, and it is relatively safe. 3) The sender gives the hawala broker the money that is to be sent, plus a fee. Is used extensively in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Central Asia.

• A 2 coach tram could accommodate 100 passengers comfortably at a time.
• In order to make an IMPS transfer, you just need to know the destination account holder’s IMPS id and their mobile number.
• Same as mentioned above there is a minimum amount of set for transferring money from India to other countries.
• The government is likely to hold discussions with Vedanta informally on a possible stock market listing of Balco before a firm proposal is made to the aluminium company’s board, said people aware of the development.

It changed the perception of how the credit system worked and became a globally recognized provider of secure financial messaging. 1 lakh crore over the past five-six years for several businessmen, drug mafia and other criminal networks, people familiar with the development said. The system is run by hawala brokers, based on trust and reputation. FinacBooks is an Indian portal of Chartered Accountants (CA’s) and Real Estate Agents with more than 10 years of experience in offering accounting, financial, taxation and real estate related services to individuals, builders, developers and business owners. Our wide network of CA’S and Real Estate Agents has operations and serve clients all across India. Hawala is a very popular and informal way of transferring money or other valuables.

Senior Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials in Delhi have confirmed that once the currency stabilizes, sea landing will be explored, especially on the tried and tested routes. A couple of small seizures have already been made from sea landing at Chennai. Even as small international airports will remain vulnerable, land routes from Nepal and Bangladesh will also come into play in a big way. The arrested persons along with seized cash were handed over to the Narayanguda police station for further action. Our team of experienced real estate agents deals in buying, selling, and renting of properties.