The Central Government has directed to intensify the probe in order to find the prominent personalities involved in the alleged reverse hawala transaction of Swapna Suresh and group through the diplomatic channel of the UAE Consulate. With this, it has been made sure that several big sharks will soon get trapped.
Both the Customs and the Enforcement Directorate will jointly conduct the investigation. Several high-ranking officials at the consulate and foreigners will be named accused in the case. Kerala Kaumudi had reported yesterday that several prominent personalities would get caught in connection with the reverse hawala transactions through the diplomatic channel.
It has been found that Sapna and the group have been doing reverse hawala transactions for three years. The dollars were illegally collected through the consulate’s money transfer agency, foreign exchange agencies in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, and banks. Swapna and her gang received commission to transfer the black money safely to the UAE.
The smuggling of dollars was done with the knowledge and help of M. Sivasankar. In June, Sivasankar was involved in booking tickets for five foreigners on a Vande Bharat flight to Dubai. It was also found that foreign currency was smuggled in their bags. It is learnt that they were guests at government functions. It was Swapna who coordinated the events. Guests were offered a green channel at the airport.
Customs also has information that foreign currency was brought to Kerala in diplomatic parcels. Rs 140 crore was transferred to the state through the charitable accounts of the UAE Consulate. In one such account, only Rs 4 crore out of Rs 58 crore is remaining.
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