ED seizes jewellery worth Rs 100-cr from Musaddilals

Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on Musaddilal Jewellers for the second day on Tuesday and seized nearly Rs 100-crore worth gold and diamond ornaments. The management of the jewellers are facing the allegation of creation of fake invoices and evaded bank loans. The noted jewellery company was also facing money laundering charges.

Officials said that the ED on Tuesday conducted raids on the MBS Group of companies and Musaddilal Jewellers at 20 locations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, including Hyderabad, in connection with money laundering and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) cases. The ED was also looking into the diversion of huge funds during demonetisation.

The companies had obtained gold from MMTC (Metals and Mineral Trade Corporation) on credit to maintain Forex positions without paying an additional 5 per cent tax which caused loss to the corporation. The ED officials had already registered cases based on FIR filed by the CBI and have been investigating the case since 2014.

Telangana police registered cases against Musaddilal Jewellers for exchanging Rs 111 crore of old notes of s 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations by showing fake sale records. The ED also seized account books and their sales reports from the company.