The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth ₹7.51 crore in connection with a case of collecting huge amounts from nurses as service charge for jobs in Kuwait.
The assets belong to P.J. Mathew, Celine Mathew and Thomas Mathew.
The attached properties include a duplex flat in Mumbai, held in the name of Celine Mathew; a land parcel in Ambalapuzha, village, Alappuzha, of Thomas Mathew; and a luxury vehicle worth ₹2.96 crore, besides ₹4.55 crore in cash seized by the Income Tax Department in April-May 2015.
The ED’s money laundering probe is based on an FIR registered by the Cochin unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The accused persons in the CBI case included L. Adolphus, the then Protector of Emigrants, Cochin; P.J. Mathew, proprietor of Mumbai-based Mathew International; and Mohammed Naina Prabhu, proprietor of Munavvara Associates (Mumbai).
The ED has alleged that P.J. Mathew with the help of others recruited more than 900 nurses, who were to be employed in Kuwait, taking exorbitant service charge ranging from ₹18.5 lakh to ₹ 20 lakh from each applicant.
“This service charge was in excess of the stipulated amount of ₹20,000. Mathew International illegally and dishonestly collected about ₹205.71 crore from the emigrants,” said an agency official.
Hawala transfer
The funds were sent to Kuwait by way of “hawala” transfer via Mohammad Aslam of Ideal Forex (P) Limited, as alleged.
On December 17, 2018, a search was conducted on the business premises of Ideal Forex (P) Limited at Penta Menaka Shopping Complex, Shanmugam Road, Ernakulam. The search team had seized ₹6.42 lakh in cash and foreign currency of 19 countries, amounting to ₹24.92 lakh.
