Bribe money for Tibetan monks was sent through men working at the office of Luo Sang
New Delhi:
A Chinese national arrested for alleged money-laundering, was also bribing some Tibetan monks in Delhi, possibly to gather information on Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and his associates, the Income Tax department has found. Sources said cash between Rs 2 lakh and 3 lakh were given to many people, who live near Majnu Ka Tila in Delhi. The process of identifying them is on.
Luo Sang, who was operating under the fake name Charlie Peng, was arrested on Tuesday during a raid in Delhi by the Income Tax Department. The Delhi Police said he is also accused of espionage conducted in September 2018. At present he is out on bail.
Investigation has revealed that Luo Sang had illegally entered India from Nepal in 2014. He married a woman from Mizoram and took up Indian identity with a fake passport issued from Manipur. He also got an Aadhaar card and PAN card made in that name.
The bribe money for Tibetan monks was sent through men working at the office of Luo Sang, the IT department has told government agencies. The couriers have admitted to transferring the cash, the department said.
The group conducted its entire communication was done on Chinese app We Chat, sources said.
The department has also tracked down a Delhi-based Chartered Accountant, who was helping the group in money laundering. The man, is being questioned and is yet to be arrested was operating more than 40 bank accounts.
Transactions to the tune of Rs 300 crore were conducted through these bank accounts, sources said. The transactions were done on the behalf of Chinese firms some of which have been traced
Many of these transactions were routed through Hong Kong. The discussions regarding this were also conducted through We Chat, sources in the department said.
The accounts, spread across several banks, have been attached by the Income Tax Department. The department suspects that bank employees were involved in some capacity and many of them are under scanner.
The IT Department has found that bigger Chinese companies were issuing fake purchase orders for smaller Chinese companies. Bogus bills were raised by smaller Chinese companies.
Last week, the IT department had carried out searches in Delhi and other parts of the National Capital Region.
The IT department has said Peng and other Chinese nationals opened 40 bank accounts in the name of Chinese shell companies and laundered over Rs 1,000 crore. Registered Chinese companies are accused of showing Rs 100 crore in advance taken from firms — which turned out to be shell companies — to enter the retail market in India.
The department is now is in touch with the GST Department for further investigation.
