Wives of Hasan Ali and associate emerge as vital link

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Mumbai, Mar 27 (PTI) Behind every successful man, there is a woman. Investigators tracking funds of Hasan Ali Khan, billed as the country''s largest tax evader, are racing against time to prove the popular adage true in this case.
Wives of Khan and his associate Kashinath Tapuriah have now emerged as a "crucial" link to a huge number of investments and charges of money laundering and tax evasion, which is being probed by agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department.
The involvement of the extent of both the wives -- Rheema Hasan Ali Khan and Chandrika Tapuriah -- is being corroborated by investigators by the sheer amount of unpaid taxes that the I-T department assessment has charged them with.
While the I-T department has pegged Rs 49 crore as tax demand against Khan''s wife Rheema, a staggering Rs 20,540 crore tax demand has been raised against Chandrika by the department in 2008.
Interestingly, Chandrika''s tax demand stands next only to Khan which is at Rs 50,329 crore. Chandrika has also been alleged to be a partner in a business firm related to Khan -- R M Investment and Trading Company Private Limited. The tax demand on this firm is Rs 336 crore.
Investigators believe that a number of investment deeds and purchases have been made with the "involvement and identity" of both the women and that establishing their role into the entire case is crucial for cracking it.
"The wives role and their statements will fix the complicity of both Khan and Tapuriah in the entire case. They are the closest to their husband''s transactions. They (Khan and Tapuriah) have carried out a number of transactions using their name and identity," sources involved in the probe said.
"Their role will prove that behind every successful man there is a woman. This case is not about success but about illegal money and criminal proceeds for money laundering and tax evasion," sources claimed.
According to the 2008 assessment order of the I-T department, Khan''s wife Rheema had "admitted" acquisition of several imported cars, trips to Switzerland and other European countries, owning number of race horses, a palatial house at Pune and a flat in Mumbai, besides cash deposits along with her husband.
All this was not disclosed to the department before the searches happened in 2007, the assessment order had said.
A multi-disciplinary team of officials from I-T, ED, Economic Offences Wing of Maharashtra Police and RBI have also found two bank accounts of Khan and his wife Rheema in ABN Amro Bank, Pune, which had a cash deposit of Rs 1.17 crore in 2008.
"These two accounts were placed under prohibitory orders by the I-T authorities then and the bank has authenticated these accounts," sources said.
Similar documents and investments have also been found in the name of Tapuriah''s wife Chandrika.
Investigators will soon record statements of both women again and may also confront them with their spouses who are under the custody of the ED here.