Surat: Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Surat Sub-Zonal Office has provisionally attached movable assets having a value of Rs. 1.84 Crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a case of illegal betting activities carried out by Harish alias Kamlesh Jariwala & Ors. The attached properties are in the name of Rajesh Lakhani, proprietor of M/s. Maitri Enterprises and M/s. VC Metals Pvt. Ltd.

ED initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by DCB, Surat, 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 rent agreements in their names, forged the signatures of shop owners in such agreements, misused the identity documents for obtaining licenses for dummy firms, and opened dummy bank accounts with various banks.

ED investigations revealed that these dummy accounts were used for the purpose of transferring the funds obtained from illegal betting apps CBTF247.com and T20EXCHANGE.com. Earlier, in the said case, searches were conducted, and balances available in 92 bank accounts to the tune of Rs. 5.67 Crore were already frozen and seized. A Prosecution Complaint in this regard had already been filed before the PMLA Court, Ahmedabad, on 25.10.2024.

During ED investigations, Proceeds of Crime (POC), i.e., the money generated through these betting apps, were traced, and it has been found that these dummy bank accounts in the names of various fictitious entities have been opened for routing and layering of money generated from betting and other criminal activities.

It was further revealed from the investigation that Rajesh Lakhani, proprietor of M/s. Maitri Enterprises and M/s. VC Metals Pvt. Ltd, had received POC from one of these dummy bank accounts. Further investigation is in progress. DeshGujarat