The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids on several premises and seized Rs 17.3 crore in total on Saturday. A major part of the haul was from the house of a 25-year-old man in Garden Reach.
ED officers accused the man of being part of a racket that has been defrauding people through a mobile phone gaming app named e-Nuggets.
The officers, who refused to be identified, said e-Nuggets was a gaming application that could be downloaded from the Internet. It prompts its users to keep their money in the app to get a commission on the deposit, the officers said.
“The app would offer lucrative returns and a high rate of commission for those who invested. It is a type of e-wallet where one can deposit money. The commission depends on the amount of money that is kept in the app,” said an ED officer.
“Once a considerable amount of money is deposited, the app developers would freeze that account citing an upgrade of the app. Then after a few days, the account holder would find that the entire data has been wiped off.”
The agency identified the man as Amir Khan, who also helped his father run a transport business. The central agency officers alleged Khan was part of a larger racket that was operating in the city to virtually dupe people.
Eight cash counting machines were requisitioned from a nationalised bank to count the cash as Khan’s home.
An ED officer said after the seizure is completed, Khan would be formally asked to explain the origin of the cash and if he fails, legal steps could be initiated against him.
The ED has started a case under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Raids were conducted in six locations, including in Ekbalpore, Garden Reach, Park Street and New Town.
“The ED or IT raids are to dissuade businessmen of Bengal from investing here. They (BJP) are sending out a clear message that such raids would be conducted in the houses of businessmen if they invest in Bengal. The raids are actually a plan to ruin Bengal’s economy,” said minister and Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim.
“Crores of rupees are being recovered from the house of a so-called businessman. Firhad Hakim was the transport minister earlier and it is heard that the businessman was close to him. Big leaders means large-scale corruption. The image of Bengal has been tarnished over recoveries of black money,” said CPM veteran Sujan Chakraborty.
“The businessman from whose house over Rs 15 crore has been recovered in Kolkata is a Trinamul member and connected with the ruling party. The state government did not take any step as they were working for Trinamul,” said BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya.
“How can I know all the businessmen in the port areas? It is baseless that I knew the businessmen as he was involved in transport trade and I was the transport minister. There was another transport minister before me. Does this mean that the businessman was very close to that transport minister, too?” Hakim said later in the evening.
