Mumbai: ED Receives Backlash From Special PMLA Court For Not Conducting Medical Examination Of Malegaon Bank Case Mastermind Akram Safi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday produced before a special PMLA court the alleged mastermind of the Rs125 crore money laundering case involving a Malegaon bank. The agency, however, failed to conduct Akram Safi’s medical examination.

The special court reprimanded agency officials and asked them to produce Safi again on Friday morning. Shafi, against whom a look out circular was in place, was caught by immigration authorities at Ahmedabad airport while attempting to flee to Dubai.

The ED claimed that Shafi had arranged for the documents of 14 account opened in Malegaon for money laundering. The agency claimed that money to the tune of Rs 125 crore was transferred through hawala transactions.

However, before the ED prosecutor could begin the arguments to seek Shaffs custody, the court noticed that his medical examination report was not attached. It reprimanded the officials and asked them to produce Shafi on Friday morning.

As per the prosecution case, Shafi along with the absconding accused Bessaniya Vali Mohammed from Surat, allegedly orchestrated the opening of several shell companies to launder funds. The agency further discovered that it was on Shaff’s instructions that Rs 14 crore were withdrawn by Siraj Mohammad and his accomplices and transferred to Mumbai through an angadia.

The investigation has revealed that funds from Malegaon were received by one Sagar. It was claimed that Sagar, the receiver of the main accused Akram Safi, was accepting the money sent from Malegaon to Mumbai through hawala transactions.