Special PMLA court remands businessman Vijay Kothari to ED custody

Businessman Vijay Kothari, accused of illegally remitting foreign exchange worth Rs 500 crore outside India, has been remanded to the custody of Enforcement Directorate (ED) till March 29.

Judge M S Azmi of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court remanded Kothari in ED custody on Monday, about 10 days after he surrendered.

Kothari has been accused of illegally remitting foreign exchange equivalent to Rs 500 crore outside the country through banks by submitting forged bills of entry and other forged import documents during 2012-13.

ED had initiated an investigation based on a report by Mumbai Police against Anil Chokhara who was operating three companies: Yogeshwar Diamonds, Shree Charbhuja Diamonds and Kanika Gems.

Besides him, Sanjay Jain, ex-Director of Raghukul Diamonds, Saurabh Pandit, Director of Sky Light, Machindra Khade of a co-operative bank and a Hong Kong-based company Link Fai were reportedly helping Chokhara in opening dummy bank accounts.

All were said to be sending remittances to the tune of Rs 500 crore by submitting forged bills of entry at Induslnd bank to various companies in Hong Kong.

All the four arrested accused named Kothari as the mastermind behind money laundering. In October 2017, a special court declared him an absconder and issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

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