The income tax department Tuesday conducted searches on premises of Chinese entities, some Chinese individuals and their Indian associates involved in money laundering and hawala transactions worth over Rs 1000 crore. The transactions were being conducted through shell entities with active involvement of bank employees and chartered accountants, evidence uncovered during the searches has revealed. “Search action revealed that at the behest of Chinese individuals, more than 40 bank accounts were created in various dummy entities, entering into credits of more than Rs 1000 crores over the period,” the Board said in a statement Tuesday. The searches also found that a subsidiary of a Chinese company and its related concerns have taken over Rs 100 crores bogus advances from shell entities for opening businesses of retail showrooms in India. “Evidences of foreign hawala transactions involving Hong Kong and US dollars have also been unearthed,” the Board added. Further investigations are under progress.The Chinese individuals and their Indian associates were involved in money laundering and hawala transactions through series of shell entities, which lead to a search action at various premises of these Chinese entities, their close confederates and couple of bank employees, the Board added.
