INVESTIGATION

Elusive goose
Amir Bhai proving too slippery
for the CBI


 Freedom is no longer a distant dream for the ‘golden goose’ in the hawala racket. Out on bail, Amir Bhai, 49, could walk out of the courtroom a free man on August 8 if the CBI cannot come up with a water-tight case for his extradition. He has done no crime in Hongkong, where he had been dealing in gems and jewellery.
Time is running out for the CBI to prepare the papers seeking his extradition. They will be forwarded to Hongkong police who would then present them in court. Bhai, whose name had been mentioned in the Jain hawala case, was released on bail eight days after he was arrested on June 10 at Kai Tak Airport on the request of the CBI which had alerted Interpol about him in December 1995.
CBI Superintendent M.P. Singh is a dejected man. He claims that the Indian authorities had requested that Bhai be detained in police custody. "We want Bhai returned to India. We will charge him with criminal conspiracy and bribery," Singh fumed. But there were reports that the Indian and Hongkong governments had come to an agreement on his restricted release.
The CBI sources in India claimed that its two-member team to Hong Kong did not oppose the bail. The team, apparently, was sent to discuss only "the modalities of extradition and to see what papers are required and what kind of evidence should be produced to bring Bhai to India." The CBI insists that it would submit evidence and get the man when his case comes up for hearing.
Bhai’s counsel, Mike Delaney, was legalistic, cool and cryptic in his response: "My client denies all charges and we will fight extradition."
Interpol Hongkong’s senior inspector Donohue was closer to the truth: "The issue of bail has nothing to do with this office as it is not a matter for the police forces. Extradition is up to the sovereign powers to decide."
Government prosecutors and counsel for Bhai had agreed on bail conditions before the June 18 hearing. He was released on a conditional cash bail of $60,000 paid for him by his brother, Habib Rahman, now staying at Bhai’s Tsim Sha Tsui flat.
Bhai, meanwhile, cannot stir out of the flat from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., one of the conditions laid down by the court while granting bail. His travel documents, which were confiscated on arrival, will remain with the police till the case is settled.
A native of Tamil Nadu, Bhai had slunk away to the Gulf from Hongkong after Interpol’s red alert flashed at police headquarters round the world. He was a surprised man when inspector Donohue nabbed him on his arrival from Dubai on June 10.
Bringing Bhai to India will prove more difficult for the CBI because he has no criminal record in Hongkong. Dealing in foreign exchange and being a conduit for the exchange of currencies are perfectly legal there. It also has no law corresponding to FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act).
Any move for extradition depends on whether the accused is booked for an offence for which he could be tried in the country from where extradition is sought. "As there is no exchange control in Hongkong we don’t come into the picture at all," says A.P. Kala of the enforcement directorate. For the record, the enforcement directorate has also charge-sheeted Bhai and the Jains for violating FERA.
Allegations doing the rounds have it that CBI is soft-pedalling the case as Bhai could prove too embarrassing to most of the accused in the case. If he decides to spill the beans, the noose would tighten round their necks. It was this fear which made the CBI not to oppose Bhai’s bail application, it is said.
"It is not fair at all," says a CBI spokesman. "Then why should we get him arrested. Extradition depends on how the court perceives the case. Why shouldn’t he get a bail? He hasn’t done any crime in Hong kong. As there is no proper extradition treaty (there is only an arrangement between the Commonwealth nations) we would have to present all the circumstantial evidences to bring him to India." The CBI has the Jains’ diaries, their statements and evidence of their phone calls to Bhai to prove that he was involved in the sensational corruption case.
Bhai, who was Amir Deen Habib in Hongkong, was a goldmine for the Jains and pumped in Rs 57 crore into the Rs 65-crore hawala racket. Most of it was decanted into the pockets of powerful men in the corridors of power in Delhi and several state capitals. The CBI also believes that Bhai had acted as a go-between for the multinationals which were eager to get jobs done by the Jains. "Whoever wanted to give the Jains money, gave it to Bhai. He was working for the MNCs," reveal CBI sources. Bhai is also wanted in connection with the Rs 35-crore FERA violation case against T.T.V. Dinakaran, a foster nephew of Tamil Nadu’s former chief minister Jayalalitha. The other cases against Bhai relate to the multi-million dollar scam for contracts of the National Hydro Power Corporation and the National Thermal Power corporation. But going by CBI’s track record, Bhai can relax, particularly if he has disposable passports.
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