He was brought to his Pedder Road residence from Pune last afternoon and the arrest was made official at 12.45 am
He was brought to his Pedder Road residence from Pune last afternoon and the arrest was made official at 12.45 amSCRAP broker and real estate consultant Hasan Ali Khan (58), who allegedly owes the country nearly Rs 70,000 crore in taxes, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at 12.45 am under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Officials picked up Hasan Ali Khan from his Pune residence and formally arrested him in Mumbai last nightA team of ED officials went to Pune last morning and brought Khan to his Pedder Road residence (see pic, right).
He was interrogated at his residence for a few hours before being officially arrested and taken to the St George Hospital for a medical check-up. He will beu00a0 produced at the Sessions Court today. A report of his interrogation will also be submitted to the Supreme Court.
At 1 am, Khan had complained of breathing problems and was being administered medicines. However, doctors declared him fit at 2.45 am. He was locked up at the Azad Maidan police station for the night.
Khan was arrested after the Supreme Court rapped investigating agencies on their knuckles for not arresting the alleged money launderer and tax evader.
At recent hearings, the court had expressed its displeasure at the investigation carried out by the ED and the Income Tax (I-T) department. Following the hearings, the I-T department also issued Khan a notice, asking him to be present at their Mumbai office on March 17.
BackgroundKhan allegedly has over $8 billion stashed in the Zurich branch of UBS, which he had allegedly transferred out of the country with the help of foreign nationals.
In January 2007, I-T officials had raided Khan's residence in Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad and had seized several documents.
He had allegedly concealed his income and not filed income tax returns since 1999. Officials from the I-T department said Khan owes Rs 40,000 crore in income tax alone.
According to sources, Khan had appeared before the ED on March 3 and before the I-T department on February 18 and had denied all allegations of money laundering and tax evasion.
He had denied knowing about any bank account in Zurich and had said he had no idea whose money it was.
Khan and the consHasan Ali Khan initially was a small-time cheat involved in forging documents. The first case was registered against him in Mirchowk police station in Hyderabad for cheating State Bank of India on January 2, 1990.
Seven cases were booked against Ali in and around Hyderabad between 1990-1992. In almost all the FIRs the charges related to cheating and forging documents.
Ali launched himself into the big league when he came in touch with Kashinath Tupuriah of R M Investments and Trading based in Kolkata. The duo imported scrap metal from the gulf countries and sold them SAIL and Incab Industries.
Ali and Tupuriah soon moved up the hierarchical ladder when they tried to sell Boeing 747 aircraft. The deal did not materialise.
Ali then moved his base to Switzerland and wanted to buy a hotel property restaurant. The deal fell through.
Again Ali tried his luck exporting diamonds with the help of one Munnabhai. The plan was aborted even before it could take off.
