The facts that have emerged in the Hasan Ali case clearly lead to the disconcerting inferences that ruling party leaders were involved in Hawala and stashing away national wealth illegally abroad; that there was undeniable nexus between politicians and criminal world; that the probe was derailed, stymied and rendered meaningless by delay and prevarication thanks to the involvement of the ruling party leaders; that the present government has no interest in recovering back the national wealth stashed abroad; that on the contrary, it is clearly interested in not exposing those who had stashed their wealth abroad.
a) Ali began to be involved in Hawala business in billions in 1990s;
b) Ali was involved with Adnan Khassogi, the international arms dealer, who was found in the probe into the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 to have supplied to arms to LTTE, in business and finance from 1982;
c) He was involved with politicians, particularly the ruling congress party leaders;
d) He had respectable local associates to front for him;
e) He, who had nothing twenty years back, had billions in his and his associates’ account by end 2006;
f) The probe into him was delayed and rendered directionless and almost purposeless, which indicated that the government was keen, even desperate, to bury the Ali case as detailed herein later;
g) The Solicitor General of India has in an extraordinary step written to the Government of India that the Ali case must be investigated from national security angle also, which he could not have done without some critical material that must have been brought to his attention;
h) Yet, the attitude of the government to Ali probe is a clear testimony to the fact that the government, far from pursuing and bringing out the national wealth stashed away abroad, is aiding and collaborating with the buccaneers who have criminally misappropriated the national wealth.
The shocking details of the Ali probe tumbled into the public domain through the media obviously because the officials who were investigating the case found that the political establishment was not keen to pursue the case, began to leak out the details. Whatever information the public has today is not through any detail given out by the government to Parliament or to the public. The media reports, sourced in the details leaked out to the media by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department are the only information available to the people. Yet the details which have appeared in the last four years, when seen collectively, shows a shocking fraud on the people of India by the ruling establishment which has clearly subverted the Ali money laundering probe involving over $8 billions.
a) Hasan Ali’s bank balances grew from $1.5 million in 1982 to $8 billion in 2006
b) A more disturbing aspect is Ali’s deep involvement with transactions in billions with Adnan Khassogi, the infamous international arms dealer whose name figured in the assassination case of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 as an arms supplier to the LTTE, which masterminded the killing of Rajiv Gandhi.
c) Ali received $300 millions from Khassogi as “Funds from Weapons Sale”, which was frozen by the Swiss Government, but Ali managed the Swiss government later.
d) Ali associate had confessed to involvement of Congress leaders
e) ED regarded Ali’s illegitimate funds as linked to terror, organized crime, gun-running and bribes; why anti-terror law was not invoked? The ED show cause notice has stated: “It is suspected that the accounts with such huge deposits of money originating from various international destinations are proceeds of heinous crimes such as terrorism, arms trade, gun-running, corruption and organized forgery, fraud and others”. These are grounds fit for action under the anti terror law of India in force then, the Unlawful Activities Prevention (Amendment) Act 2004 [which had replaced the Prevention Of Terrorism Act]. Under that law, the Ali funds could have been frozen as “proceeds of terrorism” and confiscated under section 24 of the law and pending the due legal process, by registering an FIR under the law, the Swiss government could have been requested to freeze the Ali accounts.
f) Investigate Ali from National Security angle, tells Additional Solicitor General to Finance Minister;
g) The way Ali case was handled showed that ruling party bigwigs were involved with him;
h) An inevitable question has arisen as to whether Ali fronting for a leading politician? The media has recently reported, “Investigators are also trying to ascertain the real beneficiary behind Hasan Ali’s spectacular wealth. Investigators say funds might have been amassed from defence deals and Hasan Ali could be a front for a politician;
i) ED had proposed to arrest Ali in December 2008; no arrest till now
j) The government had made a Collusive request to the Swiss authorities for assistance, which has bounced back
k)The Hasan Ali’s case – the smoking gun
An irrefutable proof of a secret meeting of the Maharashtra Government and the Political Adviser to the President of the Congress Party Smt Sonia Gandhi with Hasan Ali has been revealed by one of the members of the Task Force, Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, on 25 January 2011 in the debate in the Times Now TV Channel moderated by Shri Arnab Goswami on Black Monies stashed overseas. In his sensational revelation Shri Mahesh Jethmalani said that that the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police in Mumbai has a video recording of the secret meeting between Hasan Ali, who was absconding in the Enforcement Case of $8 billion against him, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh and the Political Advisor to the Congress Party President Shri Ahmed Patel, and Shri Ghafoor Ahmed Khan, who was later appointed as the Police Commissioner of Mumbai at Hotel Centaur [now known as Tulip] in Mumbai on 8.11.2008
Shri Mahesh Jethmalani has made available a copy of the CD of this audio-video with the transcript of the conversation among the four persons [in which the decision to appoint Shri Gaffoor as the Commissioner of Mumbai Police] to the Task Force. The transcript of the answers given by Hasan Ali to the Police, taken from the Video available with Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, one of the members of the Task Force:
In fact, this information and the video recording was first placed in the public domain by Shri Ram Jethmalani, the well-known senior lawyer [who has filed the Writ in the Supreme Court on the issue of black money abroad] on 15.4.2010 at a press conference addressed by him in Mumbai. While Ali tells the Police that he met Shri Ahmed Patel in Centaur Hotel, Shri Patel has however denied having been present at any meeting with Ali or ever met him; Vilasrao Deshmukh ordered an inquiry into the affair, but till now nothing contrary has been found out. The Home Minister Maharashtra has denied the meeting. But the video exists and is in the possession of Shri Mahesh Jethmalani one of the members of the Task Force.
(Courtesy :-Executive Summary Of Indian Black Money Abroad In Secret Banks and Tax Havens ;-
Second Report Of The Task Force on the steps to be taken by India
Members ;-Shri Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, Chennai;Shri Ajit Doval, former Director Intelligence Bureau, Delhi;Prof R.Vaidyanathan, Professor of Finance Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore;Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate, Mumbai)[Para XVII]
The complete report is at http://bjp.org/images/pdf/feb_08_bjp_task_force_report_ii.pdf
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