November 02, 2009 16:28 PM
By P. Vijian
NEW DELHI, -- A former chief minister is under probe by the Indian
Income Tax Department for siphoning money from the country and
stashing it in Malaysia and other foreign banks,
By P. Vijian
NEW DELHI, -- A former chief minister is under probe by the Indian
Income Tax Department for siphoning money from the country and
stashing it in Malaysia and other foreign banks,
through the
age-old Mumbai-based 'hawala' operators.
The 'hawala' system pertains to the transfer of money through
a network of brokers.
"We have seized documents relating to investments and money sent to Dubai,
Thailand, Malaysia and other foreign countries," Ujjwalkumar Chaudhary,
investigating officer with the tax office, the Pioneer newspaper reported
him as telling the media.
The 38-year-old suspect, who was a former chief minister of Jharkhand,
is under scrutiny for multi-million corruption while he was in power --
largely for stashing black money to the tune of US$100 million
(RM350 million) in overseas banks -- using the age-old hawala
system (transfer of money through a network of brokers).
Another charge slapped against the politician was the procurement
of mines in Liberia, under the name of his close associates, worth
nearly US$1.7 million (RM5 million), while he was the state's mines
and geology minister between 2003-2006, added the paper.
The former chief minister -- currently an independent member
of parliament in his native village -- is being investigated under
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The suspect was a son of a labourer from a remote village in Jharkhand,
and had also worked as a labourer before embracing politics.
During the ongoing investigation last Saturday, tax officers raided
70 premises, mostly linked to the politician, in eight Indian cities.
There, sleuths unearthed voluminous documents relating to bank
transactions and seized computer peripherals.
According to preliminary investigations,
age-old Mumbai-based 'hawala' operators.
The 'hawala' system pertains to the transfer of money through
a network of brokers.
"We have seized documents relating to investments and money sent to Dubai,
Thailand, Malaysia and other foreign countries," Ujjwalkumar Chaudhary,
investigating officer with the tax office, the Pioneer newspaper reported
him as telling the media.
The 38-year-old suspect, who was a former chief minister of Jharkhand,
is under scrutiny for multi-million corruption while he was in power --
largely for stashing black money to the tune of US$100 million
(RM350 million) in overseas banks -- using the age-old hawala
system (transfer of money through a network of brokers).
Another charge slapped against the politician was the procurement
of mines in Liberia, under the name of his close associates, worth
nearly US$1.7 million (RM5 million), while he was the state's mines
and geology minister between 2003-2006, added the paper.
The former chief minister -- currently an independent member
of parliament in his native village -- is being investigated under
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The suspect was a son of a labourer from a remote village in Jharkhand,
and had also worked as a labourer before embracing politics.
During the ongoing investigation last Saturday, tax officers raided
70 premises, mostly linked to the politician, in eight Indian cities.
There, sleuths unearthed voluminous documents relating to bank
transactions and seized computer peripherals.
According to preliminary investigations,
the politician had investments
worth nearly US$300 million (RM1 billion)
worth nearly US$300 million (RM1 billion)
in local companies, as well.
His corrupt activities were exposed after the state government began to
investigate the politician since last month, for amassing wealth,
which was disproportionate to his known source of income.
His corrupt activities were exposed after the state government began to
investigate the politician since last month, for amassing wealth,
which was disproportionate to his known source of income.
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