Rs 20 crore hawala trail: ED says coal scam funds routed from Kolkata to Goa; how it led them to I-PAC

According to the probe agency, around Rs 20 crore of hawala funds, generated from alleged coal pilferage in West Bengal, found its way to the I-PAC

• ED raids I-PAC office and director's home in Kolkata for coal scam laundering
• Rs 20 crore allegedly routed via hawala from Kolkata to Goa for election events
• TMC chief Mamata Banerjee accused of removing evidence during ED searches

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata, bringing about a huge uproar in poll-bound West Bengal.

The development came after the probe agency’s investigations showed that the firm utilised about Rs 20 crore generated from the coal scam for Goa polls, CNN-News18 reported.

“The money was transferred by I-PAC, through both domestic and international hawala routes, to an event management company for utilising in Goa elections," according to the details.

The ED conducted searches on Thursday at the Salt Lake office of I-PAC, as well as premises linked to its co-founder and director Pratik Jain, in connection with an alleged coal scam–linked money laundering case. Raids were also carried out at several locations in West Bengal and Delhi.

The ED alleged that during the searches, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee entered Jain’s Loudon Road residence in Kolkata and removed key evidence, and that similar actions were taken at the I-PAC office.

According to the probe agency, around Rs 20 crore of hawala funds, generated from alleged coal pilferage in West Bengal, found its way to the I-PAC. The political consultancy firm has reportedly been working with the TMC since June 2019.

Sources cited in the CNN-News18 report alleged that one hawala operator used by the coal syndicate to transfer the proceeds of crime was identified through WhatsApp chats recovered from the phone of an accountant linked to Anup Majee, the main accused in the case.

The Goa link

-Intelligence inputs accessed by CNN-News18 alleged that Rs 20 crore was routed through the hawala firm R Kanti Lal from Kolkata to Goa, based on a WhatsApp chat dated August 26, 2020, between Niraj Singh and Ashok Kumar Mishra.

-The hawala transactions in Goa were handled by Sagar Kumar Patel, who, during questioning, said the funds were transferred from Kolkata to Goa for Akshay Kumar. Akshay Kumar was subsequently summoned, and his statements were recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA on October 26, 2023, and January 10, 2024, during which he stated that he worked with Hertz and Pixelz and ASM Event Technology Private Limited.

-Siddhartha Malik, proprietor of Hertz and Pixelz and a director of ASM Event Technology Private Limited along with his father Pankaj Malik, stated that their firms worked for I-PAC in Goa during 2021–22. During this time, he received cash in Goa through hawala channels arranged by Pankaj Malik.

-Pankaj Malik, whose statements were recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA on January 9 and 10, 2024, said ASM Event and Technology Private Limited was hired by I-PAC for event management in Goa during the same period and that cash funds were arranged through hawala channels with the assistance of Akshay Kumar.

-During the investigation, Alpesh Patel, manager at the R Kantilal firm, told investigators that he had facilitated the transfer of around Rs 20 crore in cash from Kolkata to Goa via hawala channels during 2021–22, allegedly at the request of a person named Mukesh Patel.

-Statements of Mukesh Patel were recorded on January 30 and 31, 2024, under which he said he owned the Rajesh Maganlal firm and facilitated the transfer of Rs 20 crore to Goa through Alpesh Patel on the instructions of Mukesh Thakkar alias Munna.

-Mukesh Thakkar, whose statement was recorded on February 23, 2024, also acknowledged transferring approximately Rs 20 crore to Goa and claimed the transactions were carried out at the request of Jitendra Mehta, a financer at Pooja Finlease Pvt Ltd., now Akasa Finance Ltd.

-According to investigators, Kolkata-based businessman Jitender Mehta, a former director of Akasa Finance Limited, allegedly facilitated the transfer of proceeds of crime through hawala channels from Kolkata to Goa, routing about Rs 20 crore for use by I-PAC in Goa.

-Pratik Jain, co-founder and director of I-PAC, managed I-PAC’s Goa operations, and the funds were allegedly delivered to Akshay Kumar, an employee of Hertz and Pixel and ASM Event Technology, both of which have stated they worked for I-PAC in Goa.