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By Munish Pandey: The Gujarat unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has carried out searches in five bank accounts in Surat and frozen Rs 3.44 crore in connection with an illegal betting racket under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These bank accounts, maintained at IDFC Bank, were being used for illegal betting activities, sources said.
The fake dummy bank accounts were being operated by Harish alias Kamlesh Jariwala along with his associates.
“These accounts were involved in the layering of funds received from individual persons/entities who were placing bets on illegal online betting app CBTF247.com and T20 EXCHANGE.com,” the ED said.
The officials found Rs 3.44 crore lying in five bank accounts held by Mitalia Enterprise, R M Enterprise, D M Enterprises, Vishwakarma Traders and XBT Labs Pvt. Ltd., with IDFC First Bank, which has been now frozen under the provisions of the PMLA.
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“A total of 93 bank accounts (including the aforesaid 05 bank accounts), related and involved in layering/transfer of proceeds of crime have been ordered to be debit freezed,” added the ED.
The ED had initiated investigations based on the FIR registered by Surat Police, wherein it was alleged that the accused Harish alias Kamlesh Jariwala had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Rushikesh Adhikar Shinde and Huzefa Kausar Masakarwala and had obtained identity documents of various persons, prepared fake rent agreements in their names, obtained mobile phone SIM cards, license for dummy firms and sold the login ID’s along with passwords and SIM cards to a person named Huzefa Kausar Masakarwala for the purpose of transferring the funds obtained from illegal betting apps CBTF247.com and T20 EXCHANGE.com.
“During PMLA investigations, proceeds of crime i.e. the money generated through these betting apps are being traced, and it has been found that bank accounts in the names of various fictitious entities have been opened for routing and layering of money,” the officials said.
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