The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized assets worth Rs 1.46 crore under section 37A of Foreign Exchange Act (FEMA), 1999 belonging to Harish Gahlot, brother of Aam Admi Party (AAP) MLA Kailash Gahlot. As per the investigation initiated under FEMA, Harish Gehlot allegedly holds assets worth Rs 1.46 crore in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is in violation of section 4 of the FEMA.
It was revealed during investigation that in September 2018 Gahlot had transferred Rs 1 crore in cash to his younger son Nitesh Gahlot, who is an NRI studying in Dubai, through Hawala channels.
Nitesh contacted a Delhi based Hawala dealer named Inderpal Wadhawan in this regard. Out the 1 crore, Wadhawan allegedly kept 4 lacs as commission and got the equivalent amount of Rs 96 lacs in Dirham transferred to Dubai which was collected by a friend of Nitesh Gahlot and submitted in his account. Nitesh Gahlot utilised this amount to make payment to a Dubai based developer for booking two flats in the name of Harish Gahlot, himself, his mother and his elder brother.
It was revealed that Harish Gahlot also transferred an amount of Rs 50 lacs on September 29, 2018, from his own bank account in India to Nitesh Gahlot’s bank account in Dubai maintained under ‘Liberalised Remittance Scheme’ for the purpose code S0305-Travel for Education Including Fees Hostel Expenses, etc,” but the said amount was instead used for booking the above-mentioned flats. Further investigation in the case is underway.
Last year in the month of October, the I-T Department had seized assets worth Rs 2 crores which included unaccounted jewellery worth Rs 28 lakhs and Rs 37 lakh in cash from AAP MLA Kailash Gahlot and his wife.