Enforcement Directorate seeks national agencies' aid to probe Kochi firm

Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate has decided to seek the help of national agencies to unearth more details of the case related to a firm in Kochi receiving Rs 55 crore from Bulgaria-based Zevzda, a vegetable oil supplier. According to sources, Jose George, the owner of the company is yet to furnish documents to prove that the money was deposited legally. A case was registered against Jose George, owner of Trade International, for evading tax by depositing unaccounted money received from abroad in the accounts of his relatives.

According to authorities, Trade International claimed that it had entered into a deal with the Bulgarian firm for supply of around 1 lakh tonne of sunflower oil and sugar, for one year from June 2016. The ED is planning to confiscate the amount deposited prompting Jose to move the courts to get the money. Sources added that Jose was acting as an agent for a big hawala dealer.

The Customs Department had found that the documents submitted by the businessman to encash the Rs 59 crore sent by Bulgarian company Zevzda in the form of Letter of Credit bore forged seals of the Mumbai Port. It is learnt that of the Rs 59 crore transferred from a Bulgarian bank, Jose George deposited Rs 30 crore in the accounts of his relatives, which the businessman and his relatives did not declare in the tax returns.