Thiruvananthapuram: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are looking at whether gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh facilitated the flow of funds to accounts created for humanitarian and charitable activities.

The indication is that the accused created proxy accounts in the name of the UAE Consulate and then sought money from organisations abroad.

The investigating agencies believe that the accounts were opened in the consulate’s name to secure diplomatic immunity and to evade routine tax scanning. It is suspected that the accused used forged documents to open the accounts. Forged seals and stamps of the consulate were earlier seized from the residence of P.S. Sarith, another accused in the gold smuggling case.

The accounts were opened when Swapna Suresh was employed by the consulate.

The assumption of the NIA and ED was that fund flow to the accounts created by Swapna started in October 2018 and a portion of it was given to some voluntary organisations. It s suspected that Swapna and the other accused used up the rest of the money.

The NIA and the ED are also looking into whether Swapna and the other accused used the money to fund terror-related activities in the country, including recruitment to banned extremist organisations. 

The case first came to light when the Customs seized a 30-kg gold consignment at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on July 5. The consignment arrived at the airport on June 30. The agencies suspect that the accused could have smuggled in at least 700 kg of gold into the country in this manner.

The NIA was roped in after the route of the gold was traced to far off places. Now, the smuggling ring is being investigation by the Customs, the NIA and the ED to encompass possible criminal aspects, the money trail, and the terror link.