By P. Vijian, NNN-Bernama,
New Delhi : A former chief minister of an Indian state is under investigation by the Indian Income Tax Department for siphoning money from the country and stashing it various countries, including Malaysia, and in foreign banks.
The money was said to have been trasnferred out of the country through the age-old Mumbai-based ‘hawala’ operators. The ‘hawala’ system refers to a network of brokers who facilitate the transfer of money.
“We have seized documents relating to investments and money sent to Dubai, Thailand, Malaysia and other foreign countries,” Ujjwalkumar Chaudhary, an investigating officer with the tax office, was quoted as saying by the Pioneer newspaper.
The 38-year-old suspect, who was a former chief minister of Jharkhand, is under scrutiny for multi-million corruption while he was in power — largely for stashing black money to the tune of US$100 million in overseas banks — using the hawala system.
Another charge against the politician is the procurement of mines in Liberia, under the name of his close associates, worth nearly US$1.7 million, while he was the state’s mines and geology minister between 2003-2006, adds the newspaper.
The former chief minister — currently an independent member of parliament — is being investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The suspect was a son of a labourer from a remote village in Jharkhand, and had also worked as a labourer before embracing politics.
During the ongoing investigation, tax officers last Saturday raided 70 premises, mostly linked to the politician, in eight Indian cities. Investigators unearthed voluminous documents relating to bank transactions and seized computer peripherals.
According to preliminary investigations, the politician had investments worth nearly US$300 million in local companies, as well.
His corrupt activities were exposed after the state government began to investigate the politician since last month, for amassing wealth, which was disproportionate to his known sources of income.