New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has
decided to send a team of its investigators to Switzerland,
Singapore, UAE and the UK to gather data on investments and
assets of stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan who is being probed
for allegedly evading income tax of over Rs.50,000 crore.
The move has come as the Directorate is looking to build
a watertight case against 53-year old Khan after it booked him
on money laundering charges earlier this year and submitted
its probe report to the Supreme Court.
The two-member team from the Mumbai unit of the ED will
tour these countries with Letters Rogatories (LRs) which were
issued earlier to these nations after it arrested Khan in
March this year.
Khan has recently been booked by the Hyderabad Police
Crime unit for allegedly obtaining a passport by illegal
means.
A probe report will also be submitted to the apex court
in this regard once investigations are complete.
"This would strengthen our case as obtaining passport
through fraudulent means is an offence under the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," sources said.
Pune-based businessman Khan leads the list of top ten
income tax defaulters in financial year 2008-09 in the
country, who together owe more than Rs 80,000 crores in taxes.
The businessman owes Rs 50,345.73 crore in taxes for
Income Tax assessment year 2009-10. He and his associates will
now have to pay the government Rs 89,000 crore, including
penalties, according to government data.
Accused of stashing away USD eight billion of unaccounted
money in foreign banks, Khan is being investigated by the
Income Tax department as well for tax evasion.
The ED, in its petition to the court, alleged that Khan
had links with international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and
that this had come out after tracking various transactions by
Khan through his foreign bank accounts.
It had said Khan and his arrested accomplice Kashinath
Tapuriah, a Kolkata-based businessman, had close links with
bank officials in the US, Switzerland, Singapore, the UAE and
other countries and they need to be probed further. Both have
denied the charges.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, September 28, 2011, 19:18