Kozhikode: The Income Tax Department’s recent inspection of the Seashell and Sea Breeze companies has unearthed serious financial irregularities, including massive hawala transactions. With the scale of alleged money laundering crossing  ₹160 crore, multiple central agencies are now expected to join the investigation.

During the inspection, the Income Tax Department uncovered evidence of large-scale hawala transactions, both outward remittances and reverse hawala inflows from abroad. The investigation report is expected to be handed over to other central agencies.

As the hawala trail exceeds ₹160 crore, the Enforcement Directorate is expected to launch a detailed investigation. Additionally, the Customs Preventive Department may initiate a separate case after it was found that Sea Breeze allegedly undervalued mobile phone spare part transactions. Investigators also traced a money trail routed from Saudi Arabia via Dubai using hawala networks. 

The IT team has already recovered WhatsApp messages, both text and audio, detailing hawala dealings. These messages, exchanged among agents of two groups, shed light on how money was moved through complex networks. Evidence has also emerged showing large sums being transferred to companies in the UAE via Indian firms’ bank accounts.

Since those involved have failed to provide documentation explaining the source of such vast funds, the IT Department has categorised the inflow as reverse hawala. So far, 14 bank accounts linked to the two groups have been frozen.  The crackdown spanned over 40 locations, including premises in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Chennai and multiple parts of Kerala.

According to Indian law, citizens must disclose any foreign bank deposits or business ventures to the Income Tax Department. However, the two groups under the scanner are alleged to have concealed income amounting to ₹262 crore. The law stipulates imposing a 30% tax on the money, along with an equivalent amount as a penalty.