The Income Tax Department on Tuesday said it conducted raids in at least two dozen premises of Chinese entities in Delhi, Gurugram and Ghaziabad for allegedly running Rs 1,000 Cr money laundering racket with over 40 bogus bank accounts.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes said the search operations exposed various dubious firms, some of which included Indian associates and bank officials. Some bank officials, chartered accountants have also been raided.

The CBDT body also informed that the subsidiary of Chinese company and its related concerns have taken over Rs 100 crore bogus advances from shell entities for opening businesses of retail showrooms in India, reported The Week.

The operations were conducted after receiving credible inputs against few Chinese individuals and their Indian associates involved in hawala transactions involving Hong Kong and US currencies.

Of them, a Chinese man allegedly holds a fake Indian passport and is reportedly the main pivot of the racket. He has now been detained by the department and the investigation is underway. The officials have shared the information about the possession of a fake passport with the police who are expected to book the man for violating the Passport Act.

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