The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday announced seizure of 145.89 kg of gold (worth Rs 82.11 crore) from a Hyderabad-based jeweller in a money laundering case.
The ED searched jeweller Kailash Gupta's premises in Hyderabad and Vijayawada in a case registered against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, it said in a release.
The Income Tax Department had registered an FIR with the Telangana Police against Gupta, his sons and their ventures -- M/s Musaddilal Gems and Jewellery, M/s Musaddilal Jewellers Pvt Ltd and M/s Vaishnavi Bullion Ltd -- for allegedly conspiring with bullion dealers, chartered accountants and relatives.
During the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in 2016, huge amounts of banned notes were deposited in their bank accounts just hours before the deadline, the I-T complaint said. The Musaddilal Jewellers allegedly made Rs 110 crore in transactions during demonetisation.
During investigations, the ED found that Musaddilal Jewellers allegedly had created fake bills which suggested that 5,200 people had purchased gold at the store, within an hour after demonetisation on November 8, 2016.
Most names were suspected to be fictitious, as even customers named 'Baahubali' had entered the shop to purchase gold, according to the bills.
Speaking to the media at the time, Deputy commissioner of police (CCS) Avinash Mohanty said that the owner, Kailash Chand Gupta and his brother-in-law Narender Kumar then deposited the money at SBI, Panjagutta branch and Axis Bank, Banjara Hills branch in Hyderabad.
Efforts were also made to clear the CCTV footage of the store to avoid being detected. However, investigation officials checked footage from neighbouring stores and realized that barely any customers visited the jewellery shop that night after demontisation was announced.
The duo were later arrested and sent to Chanchalguda jail on judicial remand for allegedly fraudulently trying to ‘launder’ money.