24 March,2011 06:58 AM IST | | J Dey
ED yet to get a breakthrough, but stumbles upon stud farm owner's overseas accounts
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigators are now beginning to suspect that broker and horse breeder Hasan Ali has been using some of his fictitious foreign bank accounts as 'red herring' to trap investors.
Officials take Hasan Ali into custody for tax evasion
The ED officials are yet to get a breakthrough from the high-profile accused in the multi-crore money laundering scam, but they stumbled upon Ali's three foreign accounts with one of them having a balance of $10,000 (Rs 4.5 lakh).
The hunt has been launched to track an estimated Rs 36,000 crore in foreign banks.
"Also, his alleged contacts with three senior politicians have turned out to be fallacious. It was a ploy to get close to some local politicians in Pune and getting the police off his back," said an ED official.
According to sources, ED officials have not managed to get much out of Hasan Ali in the past three days. His family members too are not cooperative with the investigating agency.
Investigators are now relying on inputs from the Income Tax department and police, who have interrogated him earlier.
Ali, who is lodged on the second floor of the ED office in Nariman Point, is facing an officer of the rank of Joint Commissioner assisted by a stenographer.
Some of the officials have been camping in the office for the past three days.
ED officials now believe that Hasan Ali had been bragging about high-profile contacts to impress his associates in racecourses across the country.u00a0
