ED arrests two Delhi businessmen involved in illegal money transfer worth over Rs 4,800 crore linked to China

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two Delhi-based businessmen, both brothers, for allegedly sending illegal foreign remittances worth over ₹ 4,800 crore to Hong Kong and China.

A local court sent Mayank Dang and Tushar Dang to the agency’s custody until Thursday after their arrest on November 25 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The number of arrests in the case so far has gone up to four as Manideep Mago and Sanjay Sethi were also arrested earlier.

According to the ED, the Dang brothers had a “well-organized” syndicate that included a large group of Indian importers and traders, cash handlers, international hawala agents, local “Angandiya” companies, numerous Chinese manufacturers and suppliers, and a “specialized group” chain of warehouses in several Chinese cities .

The ecosystem was allegedly used to “illegally” send foreign remittances worth Rs 4,817 crore on the basis of “fake” and “forged” invoices to make equalization payments on under-invoiced imports from China and Hong Kong.

The Dang family’s modus operandi was to manage and control several foreign entities in “collusion and cooperation” with a key Chinese member of the syndicate known as “Mr. King”.

Under the scheme, Mr. King sourced goods from Chinese manufacturers and suppliers and stockpiled them before exporting them to companies “controlled and owned” by the Dang family.

Mayank and Tushar would import “heavily” invoiced goods and equalization payments would be transferred abroad through Mago and Sethi, the ED alleged.

The transfers made by Mago and Sethi were made on the basis of “false” invoices issued for online lease of cryptocurrency mining servers, educational software, lease of bare metal servers, etc., he stated.

The investigation established that no such services were in fact provided. The ED alleged that the remittances went to foreign companies controlled by Mago and his associates and from there payments were made to Chinese companies engaged in exporting various products to India.