The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested a Nagpur man- Wasim Bawla– under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Bawla was arrested in connection with an ongoing probe into the smuggling of foreign-origin betel nuts through the India- Myanmar border by northeast-based dubious firms without payment of customs duty.
The ED claims that Wasim Bawla actively participated in the smuggling of betel nuts of foreign origin through his connections to Assamese dealers, transporters, warehouse owners, and shell companies. These organisations provided phoney invoices to enable the selling and purchase of betel nuts in the Maharashtra region of Nagpur.
Based on the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of probe (CBI) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Nagpur, the central agency opened a money laundering probe.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which the ED found, had also looked into a number of Nagpur-based businesses who were buying betel nuts of a foreign provenance.
The ED additionally conducted home searches of multiple suspects, resulting in the discovery of numerous electronic devices and incriminating papers.
The central investigate agency’s investigation also showed that a number of businesspeople in Assam received substantial sums of money, which they then used to buy smuggled foreign betel nuts. Later, they faked documentation and transportation bills to ship betel nuts to Nagpur.
The ED claimed in a statement that despite being in Nagpur, Wasim Bawla made every effort to dodge the probe by switching phones, disregarding the ED’s summons, and refusing to take part in the search procedures.
The agency continued in its statement, ‘Wasim Bawla had also used illicit proceeds of smuggling to purchase secret official documents by bribing contractual staff of the ED.’
Following his arrest, Bajwa was brought before the Mumbai special PMLA Court, which gave the ED custody of him till June 30.
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