ED raids on illegal forex dealers in Kerala, India

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said that they recently conducted searches under FEMA violations at 14 locations in Kerala as part of an investigation into a network of hawala operators and illegal forex dealers in the state.

Among the key players in the hawala network and the targets of the search operation were Suresh Forex, Ettumanoor Forex, Dubai Forex, Sangeetha Foreign Exchange, Crescent Trading, Hana Trading, Fornas Forex Pvt Ltd, and their key managerial persons.

“Assorted foreign currencies from more than 15 countries, amounting to approximately Rs 1.50 crore, were seized. Additionally, a significant sum of unaccounted Indian Rupees, generated from illegal foreign currency exchange and totaling approximately Rs 1.50 crore, was also recovered and seized during the operation,” said an officer.

Searches have also revealed that these persons and entities transacted in illegal exchange of foreign currency and are also involved in arranging cross-border payments to Dubai, USA, Canada etc. through Hawala and bypassing the legal banking channels. The operators admitted illegal Forex dealings without taking KYC or issuing bills.

The voice memos and WhatsApp conversations retrieved from the devices of these persons revealed the modus operandi of the Hawala operations which run into multiples of crores of rupees.

Additional data retrieved from more than 50 mobiles and electronic devices seized during searches are being analyzed with the help of Forensic Experts for further operational analysis and to identify the larger racket of cross-border hawala and the beneficiaries.

Further investigation in this matter is under progress to trace the other illegal forex dealers involved in hawala transactions.

About ED

The Directorate of Enforcement or the ED is a multi-disciplinary organization mandated with an investigation of economic crimes and violations of foreign exchange laws. The origin of this Directorate goes back to 1st May 1956, when an ‘Enforcement Unit’ was formed in the Department of Economic Affairs for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA 47).

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