Crack team formed to nab Hasan Ali

ED team will raid Ali's hideouts in three cities to gather clues for his arrest and to find the source of the R36,000 crore he is believed to have stashed in tax havens

Crack team formed to nab Hasan Ali

ED team will raid Ali's hideouts in three cities to gather clues for his arrest and to find the source of the R36,000 crore he is believed to have stashed in tax havens

Spurredu00a0into action by the Supreme Court's reprimand for not being able to nab Hasan Ali, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has formed a crack team to raid his hideouts in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. A scrap broker and horse breeder, Ali is wanted in connection with stashing more than Rs 36,000 crore in tax havens.

Missing? Hasan Ali, a scrap broker and horse breeder, first came under
the scanner when his name figured in the sale of three aircraft to a
state-owned airline at an allegedly inflated cost. File pic

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and comes at a time when the ED is expected to file an affidavit about the status quo on the case in the apex court today.

"Officers who are part of the crack team will fan out across the three cities to gather clues that could lead to Ali's arrest," said a senior ED official.

Ali first came under the scanner when his name figured in the sale of three aircraft to a state-owned airline at an allegedly inflated cost. Officials suspected he could be acting as a front and the kickbacks could have gone a very senior politician.

Ali's questioning led investigators to Kashinath Tapuriah, chairman of RM Investments & Trading Company Private Ltd (RMI), which has its office in Camac Street in Kolkata. The consultancy firm was hired by an American aircraft manufacturer for the sale of commercial aircraft in India.

Documents available with MiD DAY indicate that ED's erstwhile assistant director had summoned Tapuriah for questioning in connection with the aircraft deal.

Finger in many pies
Tapuriah's interrogation led the ED to suspect that Ali had links with arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. Money coming to Ali through an arms deal valued at $30 million (Rs 13,500 crore) was then frozen as the transaction was tagged 'Funds from Weapon Sales'.

Documents in MiD DAY's possession indicate that Ali had also supplied huge consignments of scrap steel from Dubai to the Steel Authority of India Limited and one of the largest engineering companies in the country.
Ali also invested heavily in Mumbai's real estate through one Munnabhai. ED officials are yet to get to the bottom of the case despite recording statements of dozens of associates and collating details of Swiss bank accounts.

A senior ED officer said Ali had been served a show-cause notice to explain how he amassed Rs 36,000 crore, which the ED stumbled upon in 2006. The Income Tax is also investigating this angle, he said. "Rs 36,000 crore is just the tip of the iceberg. We asked Ali how he got so much money but he hasn't been able to give a satisfactory answer. Horse breeding cannot account for such huge amounts of money," said the officer.

Political links
Investigating agencies are now suspecting that Ali could be a front for several politicians at the Centre and for builders in Mumbai and Pune. Officials said there are reasons to suspect he could be acting as a conduit for the mafia.

Ali, who is now on bail, has also been indicted in a fake passport case. His money laundering case is being investigated under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Money trail
Documents available with MiD DAY indicate that ED officials traced Rs 36,000 crore deposited in several safe lockers in Zurich, Switzerland. The Ministry of Finance, under whose ambit the ED works, has sought a fresh round of talks at government level to get the money transferred to India.

"There has been little progress in the past few months," said an ED officer. The directorate had also initiated letters of request (LoRs) to USA, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and UAE in 2009 asking for cooperation in overseas inquiry. Replies are, however, pending.