New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has carried out searches in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra in a money laundering probe linked to alleged illegal foreign remittances of about Rs 400 crore against bogus import of gold, diamond and precious stones.

The raids were undertaken on March 7.

The money laundering case stems from a charge sheet filed by the Customs department before a designated court located in Jaipur, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

Sixteen locations in Jaipur, Ajmer and Udaipur in Rajasthan apart from Noida (Uttar Pradesh) and Mumbai (Maharashtra) were searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it said.

The Customs department found that funds of “about Rs 400 crore were remitted to various overseas entities based in Hong Kong and the UAE through various bank accounts of Belstar Techno Solution (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. and Visual Bird Technology after routing through multiple shell companies.”

“This was done in the guise of importing services which were never received.

However, the funds were remitted outside India against the illegal import of gold, diamonds and precious stones,” according to the ED. The agency seized Rs 10 lakh in cash, “incriminating” records and digital devices during the raids.