Fake Invoices To Hawala: How Multi-State Gold Smuggling Ring Unfolded In Assam

The Enforcement Directorate, or the ED, has provisionally attached 37.064 kg of gold, valued at more than Rs 54 crore, in connection with a money laundering investigation into an alleged gold smuggling network.

The attachment was made by the ED's Guwahati Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a case against Akshay Parshuram Bansode and other unidentified persons.

The attached gold comprises 29 large-sized gold bars and 50 smaller gold pieces. The agency has also attached around 13 grams of silver-coloured metal flakes found along with the gold.

The gold was originally seized by Assam Police on June 30 this year allegedly from the possession of Bansode at Kharghuli Hatisil in Guwahati. The seized gold is currently in the custody of the Kamrup Metro Treasury in Guwahati.

The ED, which investigates financial crimes, initiated its PMLA investigation on the basis of a case registered at Latasil Police Station in Kamrup Metro district. The police case relates to alleged organised illegal transportation and concealment of smuggled gold, as well as criminal conspiracy.

According to the ED, the investigation has indicated that Bansode had allegedly been involved in transporting gold across different parts of India for several years. He allegedly worked on the instructions of an unidentified person who controlled a syndicate of couriers.

The agency said the syndicate used a coded identification system to coordinate the movement of the couriers. Bansode allegedly received a fixed monthly remuneration for transporting the gold.

The investigation has also indicated that the gold was allegedly smuggled into India through Myanmar and the UAE. The ED has alleged that payments connected with the transactions were routed through hawala channels.

The agency is also examining how the allegedly smuggled gold was sought to be brought into the formal bullion market. According to the investigation, invoices were generated by certain traders linked to a bullion refining company and were allegedly used to give the gold a legitimate appearance.

A separate claim of ownership over the seized gold was also examined during the investigation. The claimant sought to establish ownership through invoices that were projected as sale documents.

However, the jurisdictional court found the invoices to be prima facie fabricated and rejected the claimant's application seeking release of the gold.

The investigation further found that neither Bansode, from whose possession the gold was seized, nor the person claiming ownership of the gold could produce documents establishing its lawful acquisition.

The ED said neither party was able to provide customs clearance certificates, import documents or other records showing that the gold had been legally brought into the country.

The agency's investigation is continuing to establish the wider network involved in the alleged smuggling, transportation, and attempted introduction of the gold into the formal bullion trade.