Int'l trade fraud bust in Chennai accounts for 14% of ED convictions

An investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into a money-laundering scam where at least ₹120 crore worth US dollars were sent to Hong Kong through multiple shady accounts with two Chennai banks has given the agency six of its 42 all-India Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) convictions till date. While the first conviction was in 2019, the latest of the six was obtained by a special PMLA Chennai court in September 2024. A few more related cases are still at the trial stage.

- SIDDHARTH PRABHAKAR @ Chennai

Through multiple current accounts in the Indian Bank's Thousand Lights and Syndicate Bank's Armenian Street branches. The accounts were opened using forged documents of intermediaries who were Hawala agents and name lenders with no financial wherewithal for such multi-crore international trade. ED found that these accounts were controlled by handlers in-charge of the laundering; the Hong Kong bank accounts were also controlled from Chennai by a Hawala operator, who is among the seven convicted so far.