Hawala case: Surat-based trader sent in four-day ED custody

A local court today remanded the Surat-based trader Rakesh Kothari, arrested in connection with a multi-crore hawala racket that was busted in March this year, to a four-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate.
The special judge for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases, S C Srivastava, remanded Kothari in ED's custody till September 8, though the agency had sought a ten-day remand.
According to ED, Kothari was involved in illegal transaction to the tune of Es 1,000 crore. He was one of the key persons involved in the Rs 5,000 crore hawala racket, alongwith fellow Surat-based traders Afroz Fatta and Madanlal Jain, it says.

ED's lawyer advocate Sudheer Gupta had argued earlier that Kothari carried out illegal transactions through his two firms (GT Enterprise and Vandana Enterprise), which was established by the statement of Jain and other evidence.
Kothari was arrested on Monday when he appeared here at the ED office to give his statement.
He is accused of transferring money, illegally, from Surat to Mumbai through Internet to make remittances abroad. This money was later used in the smuggling of gold and silver bars, ED says.
Jain and Fatta allegedly forged import bills of diamonds and remitted money abroad on that basis, without actually importing a single diamond. Both are already in ED's custody.