The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out searches at the premises of controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi in connection with a case under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
The ED searched five premises of Qureshi, including his posh Chhattarpur farmhouse and the residential flat at Defence Colony in the national capital to gather evidence against him for hawala transactions to foreign countries. The Income Tax department had carried out a similar exercise against Qureshi last year for alleged tax evasion.
The agency officials brought Qureshi and two employees of his business firms besides two hawala operators based in Turkman Gate and Greater Kailash-I area to ED's Delhi office where they were questioned by the sleuths for over four hours, official sources said.
The agency also searches the premises of the two hawala operators from where it seized certain documents and computers.
The ED took over the case after the IT department shared documents indicating hawala transactions and alleged violations of FEMA by Qureshi and his business entities.
According to the ED case, Qureshi is alleged to have made payments to the tune of Rs 100 crore to firms in Hong Kong and Dubai through the hawala channel, apparently to hoodwink the enforcement agencies here. The ED is the designated nodal Central agency to probe crimes under FEMA.