Hawala: AP to rope in China

The AP Crime Investigation Department has decided to send teams to China, Hong Kong, and other countries, to probe the `650-crore moneylaundering case uncovered in Visakhapatnam.

Sources say that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had given consent for a multi-national investigation to be carried out. The case has been transferred from the Visakhapatnam Police to the CID.

The accused in the case set up over 12 shell companies and opened several bank accounts. They laundered money and evaded import and export taxes. They allegedly set up shell companies in Kolkata and Mumbai and created documents to show that they were purchasing software from China and Hong Kong while resorting to fraud.

Padmapriya Stone Crushing Pvt. Ltd. and Balmukunda Warehouses in Vizag, Lavender E-system, Wormwoods Technologies, Serikos Exports, Shivkripa Tradelinks, Foxgiove Technologies, Cloudberry Soft Solutions, Primrose Techno Solutions, Merac Esystem, Kaustav Export Import and Delphinium E-system of Kolkata have been identified as shell companies.

Vaddi Mahesh, the key accused, is a native of West Godavari. He and several others have been arrested in relation to the case. A CID official says that the companies received inward domestic remittance of `680.94 crore in 2015-16, of which `569.93 crore was remitted to five companies in China, Hong Kong and Singapore towards the purchase of customised software using forged documents. A case was initially booked by the Vizag Police.