Arrested Trinamool leader made Rs 20 cr in foreign exchange dealings: ED tells court

Kolkata, Jan 6 (IANS) Trinamool Congress leader Shankar Adhya, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) late on Friday night in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution case, was produced before a special PMLA court on Saturday, where the ED counsel claimed Adhya made around Rs 20 crore in foreign exchange dealings in the past few years.The ED counsel also said that such foreign exchange dealings were done through 90 agencies.As per the agency, the Trinamool leader was unable to furnish any document pertaining to the source of the acquired funds. The ED believes that this huge amount of foreign exchange dealings was done using the proceeds of the alleged ration distribution scam.The ED counsel told the court that the Indian rupees were converted into foreign currencies and then transferred abroad, mainly to Dubai, sometimes directly and at times via Bangladesh.The judge of the special court expressed astonishment at the involvement of such large amount of funds in foreign exchange dealings. “There’s such huge amount of transactions and yet some people claim that this is a poor state,” he said.Adhya’s counsel claimed that dealings in foreign exchange is not an illegal business, and his client carried out work in a legal manner. –IANSsrc/arm