Investigations into the alleged multi-crore money laundering by Hasan Ali Khan indicate his close relationship with international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. Interestingly, it was Khan’s close associate Kashinath Tapuria who told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that Khan knew Khashoggi very well and had several financial dealings with him.
Investigations revealed high value transactions to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars related to foreign accounts of Khan and his financial linkages with Adnan Khashoggi.
Further investigations by the ED have also revealed that Khan and Kashoggi were close associates and had planned several multi-crores deals together. According to the ED, Khan was planning to strike a major deal of buying hotels in Europe and Khashoggi was going to fund the deal, but the deal was cancelled by the Swiss bank because according to the bank the money was acquired through the sale of arms and was not welcome for the bank.
According to one of the notorised documents cited by ED, it was stated that Khan had met Philip Anandraj and expressed his desire to invest in hotel properties in Switzerland. Khan intended to purchase ‘Chateau Gutsch’ in Lucern (a hotel property in Switzerland). A deal was finalised between Khan and the seller in the presence of a UBS bank official. However, while the payment was being arranged, UBS realised that the amount transferred in Khan’s account had arrived from the account of Khasoggi maintained in Chase Mannhattan Bank, New York. The amount however was traced to sales of arms and the UBS tagged Khan’s account with a comment “Funds from Weapon Sales”. Following this, the deal fell through. This fact has been confirmed by Shri Kashinath Tapuriah, Hassan Ali Khan and Philip Anandaraj in their statements, said the ED in the chargesheet.
During investigations, the ED found several references of financial transactions between Khan and Khashoggi. Their close link has been corroborated by Tapuriah in a number of statements, ED sources said.
