On October 16, the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Zonal Office in Hyderabad launched a series of raids across five city locations. Their operation successfully exposed a network of firms engaged in illegal money-changing activities, all operating without the necessary licenses from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The targeted searches included the premises of Prism Forex Private Limited, Garuda Forex Services Private Limited, Sree Vimal Nath Forex Private Limited, Victory Forex & Travel Services Private Limited, and Digital Forex Private Limited. The ED confirmed that these entities, while functioning as full-fledged money changers, were conducting foreign exchange operations without proper authorization.
During these coordinated raids, investigators recovered a cache of incriminating documents, mobile phones, and laptops. These devices reportedly held detailed records of the unlawful foreign currency transactions. Furthermore, the ED successfully seized ₹11.99 lakh in undisclosed Indian currency and foreign currency valued at approximately ₹26.77 lakh.
Earlier investigations by the RBI’s Hyderabad office had already brought to light severe irregularities within these firms. These included instances of Know Your Customer (KYC) documents lacking corresponding travel tickets, fictional traveler identities, fabricated flight information, and falsified signatures. Authorities also confiscated numerous fake and duplicate flight tickets. A key finding was that a majority of the recorded forex sales were linked to travel to countries like Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, which do not require a visa. In response to these revelations, the implicated FFMCs had voluntarily surrendered their RBI licenses in June and July of the current year.
Disturbingly, despite surrendering their legitimate licenses, ED officials noted that Prism Forex, Victory Forex, and Digital Forex persisted with their illegal activities. They even went as far as to display forged RBI licenses at their operating locations. The ED has stated that a thorough ongoing investigation continues into these matters.