New Delhi [India], March 5 : The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Ahmedabad Zonal Office has conducted searches at 29 locations situated in Gujarat, Delhi and Maharashtra in the money laundering cases related to illegal immigration of Indian nationals to foreign countries like the US and Canada.
The searches were conducted on March 1, 2024, officials said.
The central enforcement agency initiated investigation on the basis of three FIRs registered by Gujarat Police under various sections of IPC, 1860 and Prevention of Corruption Act against Bharatbhai alias Bobby Patel, Rajubhai Becharbhai Prajapati, Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel and "others".
Chargesheets have been filed in all the FIRs by the Gujarat Police. The accused persons had allegesdly been sending Indian citizens abroad illegally since 2015 on the basis of bogus or fabricated documents for getting visa of different countries with duplicate or bogus passports used as genuine by impersonating the passengers wrongly.
For this, ED said the accused used to collect Rs 60 to 75 lakh from one passenger, Rs 1 cr to 1.25 cr from a couple and Rs 1.25 cr to 1.75 cr if children were also accompanied, from, the passengers desirous of going abroad.
The modus operandi in these cases revealed, so far, is that the desirous innocent individuals were lured by the accused persons to settle them abroad by issuance of bogus visa and passports including student visas for which the accused persons charged huge amount.
The individuals whose student visas were issued, never joined the institute, ED said.
Further, various overseas education institutes are also suspected to be involved in the case, ED alleged.
Further, the accused persons have also caused death of four persons on March 19, 2022, who were among 11 Indians sent illegally to the US from Canada and who died due to extreme cold weather conditions, the ED said.
The searched premises included premises of accused persons, their associates, immigration consultants and auditors. During the search operations, various incriminating documents including property related documents, digital devices, various original passports, identity cards of unknown individuals two luxury vehicles were seized.
Bank accounts containing Rs 50.10 Lakh of accused/suspects, their associates, relatives and their companies were frozen which suspected to have secreted the proceeds of crime, ED said.
ED had earlier in relation to illegal human immigration conducted searches at 21 locations in Gujarat and Delhi on January 19-20 and February 1-2, 2024.
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