Akram Shafi, the man thought to be the kingpin in the Rs 125 crore Malegaon bank money laundering case, was just an employee working for Rs 35,000 per month for one Mahmud Bhagad alias Challenger King alias Jimmy. The investigation has revealed that the accused were involved in transactions worth Rs 378.48 crore through hawala channels between Malegaon, Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad.
Shafi was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday for his alleged active role in the scam. He has been remanded to custody till November 29 by the special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED has claimed he was directly acquired and possessed proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs8.66 crore.
In his statement to the ED, Shafi has claimed that was involved in an average cash withdrawal of Rs 1 crore from the bank accounts of Ahmedabad-based entities on a daily basis since July. This money was handed over to various people, including hawala dealers, in Ahmedabad.
While seeking Shafi’s custody, the agency claimed that, before his arrest, he revealed working for Bhagad for a monthly salary. He allegedly processed transactions through RTGS, cheques from various bank accounts, and received/delivered cash on instructions of Bhagad.
The ED said when it analysed the 14 accounts of Nashik Merchant Co-operative Bank, “majority of credits, amounting to over Rs 118.40 crore, were transferred/ credited from the accounts of around 200 firms/ companies, within two months”. A majority of these funds were transferred to 20 entities, the ED said.
The ED also revealed that some of these mule accounts were operating on the instructions of third parties, with actual account holders allowing the operation of these accounts for financial gain, which turned out to be meagre.
This probe started with a complaint lodged by a local resident of Malegaon against one Siraj Ahmed for misusing their documents in opening fake accounts which were used for money laundering. The further investigation revealed a link with Shafi, who was caught while he was trying to flee to Dubai.
