Ex-DMK min’s son gets 7-yr RI for money laundering
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:15.03.2019
The XII additional sessions court for CBI cases in the city on Wednesday sentenced late DMK leader and state minister Ko Si Mani’s son Mani Anbazhagan to seven years rigorous imprisonment in a money laundering case. The court imposed a fine of ₹1 crore on him. He will have to undergo an additional year of rigorous imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.
The case was investigated by Enforcement Directorate’s zone-II in Chennai, headed by joint director P Manikkavel IRS. The investigation to conviction took around 18 months. This is the first conviction in southern India, sources said.
Mani Anbazhagan was involved in international hawala transactions amounting to $11,267,521 (₹75.50 crore) through seven different current accounts at Indian Bank’s Thousand Lights branch under the names of different business entities.
The investigation was initiated based on an intelligence input received from the Chennai seaport Customs in October 2016, ED said in a statement on Thursday. It was a herculean task for the ED to establish a link between the fake entities and the actual operator, Mani Anbazhagan, to make a case of international hawala transactions.
The ED put several hawala operators under surveillance, which lead to searching their residential premises, after identifying those involved in the scam. A case was registered in April 2017. The charges were filed in the special court (PMLA) in October 2017.
The account holder, who acted as a lender under an assumed name, was arrested on April 3, 2017 and Mani Anbazhagan, who actually operated the account, was arrested on August 7, 2017. Both of them filed various petitions before higher judicial forums, either to get bail or to quash the charges. All superior courts, considering the gravity of the case, not only refused bail but also gave a direction to complete the trial in a time-bound manner.
The modus operandi adopted by the hawala operator was that after opening the bank account, without revealing the real identity and involvement, submit the forged import documents and project it before the bank as if it were payments for genuine imports already made. All these foreign exchanges were sent to Hong Kong to undisclosed beneficiaries and for undisclosed enduse. The hawala operator transferred the foreign exchange outside the country (Hong Kong), without making any corresponding imports into India.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB), Chennai, also registered a case in the related matter and are investigating it for forgery and cheating under sections 420 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. The CCB investigation is under progress.
Late DMK leader and state minister Ko Si Mani’s son Mani Anbazhagan was involved in international hawala transactions amounting to ₹75.50 crore through seven different current accounts at Indian Bank’s Thousand Lights branch
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:15.03.2019
The XII additional sessions court for CBI cases in the city on Wednesday sentenced late DMK leader and state minister Ko Si Mani’s son Mani Anbazhagan to seven years rigorous imprisonment in a money laundering case. The court imposed a fine of ₹1 crore on him. He will have to undergo an additional year of rigorous imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.
The case was investigated by Enforcement Directorate’s zone-II in Chennai, headed by joint director P Manikkavel IRS. The investigation to conviction took around 18 months. This is the first conviction in southern India, sources said.
Mani Anbazhagan was involved in international hawala transactions amounting to $11,267,521 (₹75.50 crore) through seven different current accounts at Indian Bank’s Thousand Lights branch under the names of different business entities.
The investigation was initiated based on an intelligence input received from the Chennai seaport Customs in October 2016, ED said in a statement on Thursday. It was a herculean task for the ED to establish a link between the fake entities and the actual operator, Mani Anbazhagan, to make a case of international hawala transactions.
The ED put several hawala operators under surveillance, which lead to searching their residential premises, after identifying those involved in the scam. A case was registered in April 2017. The charges were filed in the special court (PMLA) in October 2017.
The account holder, who acted as a lender under an assumed name, was arrested on April 3, 2017 and Mani Anbazhagan, who actually operated the account, was arrested on August 7, 2017. Both of them filed various petitions before higher judicial forums, either to get bail or to quash the charges. All superior courts, considering the gravity of the case, not only refused bail but also gave a direction to complete the trial in a time-bound manner.
The modus operandi adopted by the hawala operator was that after opening the bank account, without revealing the real identity and involvement, submit the forged import documents and project it before the bank as if it were payments for genuine imports already made. All these foreign exchanges were sent to Hong Kong to undisclosed beneficiaries and for undisclosed enduse. The hawala operator transferred the foreign exchange outside the country (Hong Kong), without making any corresponding imports into India.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB), Chennai, also registered a case in the related matter and are investigating it for forgery and cheating under sections 420 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. The CCB investigation is under progress.
Late DMK leader and state minister Ko Si Mani’s son Mani Anbazhagan was involved in international hawala transactions amounting to ₹75.50 crore through seven different current accounts at Indian Bank’s Thousand Lights branch
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