New Delhi, Dec 3: The ED on Tuesday said it had filed a chargesheet against six Jammu and Kashmir residents, apart from some others, in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged duping of a Jammu-based businessman of about Rs 7 crore on the pretext of providing him with a ‘magical’ substance called “Trathgola”.
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The prosecution complaint was filed on November 25 against Mohammad Iqbal Bakerwal, Muddasar Ali, Abdul Jalil (all residents of Channi Mansar in Samba district) and Batote (Ramban district) residents Akhtar Mir, Parvez Mir, Iqbal Mir and some others under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.
The special court designated to try PMLA cases in Jammu has taken cognisance of the chargesheet and issued summonses to all the accused, it said.
The money-laundering case stems from a Jammu Police Crime Branch FIR against the accused for allegedly duping a Jammu-based businessman of Rs 6.90 crore on the pretext of providing him with a purportedly rare and precious magical substance called “Trathgola”, the ED said.
Experts said “Trathgola” was fraudulently marketed to prospective buyers as a rock formed by lightning strikes with an assurance that the purchasers could sell it to national and international space agencies.
The ED said its probe unearthed a “complex process” of “layering” the proceeds of crime in this case by Bakerwal and members of his extended family through a web of 29 bank accounts, where cash was deposited in a piecemeal manner with a view to avoid detection while getting the “tainted funds” into the legitimate banking system.
Certain intermediaries or “middlemen” were identified who had charged a hefty “finders’ fee” of Rs 1.30 crore for facilitating the deal (with the businessman), the agency said.
Assets worth Rs 1.85 crore of various accused were attached by the ED in this case earlier.
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