India’s ED raids Kerala-based businessman over financial fraud committed in Doha

Published: 4 September 2024

NT Bureau
Doha

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in India has conducted raids at three locations in Kerala, uncovering evidence of a massive financial fraud committed by a Kerala-based businessman when he was in Doha, India’s leading news agencies have reported.

The ED is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India, responsi-ble for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes.

The ED’s Kozhikode Sub-Zonal Office carried out the searches under the Prevention of Money Laun-dering Act (PMLA) and seized ₹3.50 lakh in cash and crucial documents linking the prime suspect to the international scam, ANI reported.

The money-laundering case stems from an FIR filed by the crime branch and economic offences wing of the Kerala Police on the allegations that the suspect, a resident of Thuvakkunnu in Kannur, was run-ning a firm in Doha, according to Press Trust of India.

Investigators revealed that the suspect secured a loan for a huge amount, ostensibly to expand his Doha-based firm, but he allegedly neither repaid the loan nor used it for its intended purpose.

The ED’s probe, initiated based on an FIR filed by the Crime Branch’s Economic Offences Wing, has ex-posed a complex web of financial malpractices. Sources close to the investigation claim that the sus-pect diverted the loan amount to investments in Wayanad, Kerala, using benami transactions to con-ceal his involvement, according to ANI news agency.

The ED has frozen 10 bank accounts linked to the suspect and his associates, where portions of their illicit gains were traced.

India’s Mint newspaper said, quoting authorities, that the case highlights the growing challenges of cross-border financial fraud and the need for enhanced international cooperation in combating such sophisticated schemes.