ED arrests Hasan Ali on eve of SC deadline
08 Mar 2011
Hasan Ali Khan, the man who allegedly owes the exchequer India Rs70,000 crore in taxes, was on Monday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He will be produced in court today.
Khan's arrest late on Monday night came just a day ahead of the Supreme Court's deadline given to the government to submit its status report on the progress of the case against him.
On Monday, Khan was taken from his home in Pune to the Enforcement Directorate's Mumbai office, where he was reportedly interrogated for six hours for money-laundering and foreign exchange violations and for financial traces to international arms dealers and smugglers.
Searches at his home in Pune began early Monday morning and lasted eight hours. Raids in cities like Kolkata and Hyderabad were also conducted at properties with links to Khan or some of his business associates.
Khan left his home on Monday evening in one of his Mercedes cars with his wife Rheema and investigators.
Khan, a horse breeder, is alleged by the government to have black money worth $8 billion in Swiss bank accounts. He has steadfastly denied this. "The so-called bank account in Switzerland does not exist ... anyone who wants that money, if it exists, is welcome to take it," dared his lawyer, Ramakant Gaur, on Monday.
.webp)
