The Hyderabad police seem to have washed their hands of Syed Hasan Ali Khan alias Hasan Ali, the 53-year-old stud farm owner allegedly involved in a mega-crore money-laundering scam, by claiming that all the seven criminal cases pertaining to him have been disposed of by the courts.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh and Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes) told newsmen on Monday that two cases of bank fraud, four cases of cheating and a case of acid attack on a doctor were lodged against Hasan Ali in various police stations.

"No case is pending against him as all the previous cases were disposed of by the courts," they pointed out.

According to senior police officials, in 1990, the manager of State Bank of India, Charminar branch, had lodged a complaint stating that Hasan Ali had fraudulently withdrawn a total of Rs 26 lakh on three occasions against cheques that later bounced. A similar case was lodged for defrauding the Grindlays Bank.

In September 1991, the central government had announced an amnesty scheme wherein it allowed Indian citizens to get foreign exchange from outside. Subsequently at least four persons approached Hasan Ali, who promised them demand drafts in dollars.

He had allegedly collected Rs 10.35 lakh from Suresh Mehta, Rs 6.29 lakh from Rajesh Gupta, Rs 36 lakh from T Ramnath and Rs 18.22 lakh from P Rama Koteswara Rao.

He then produced 'international money orders' and handed over demand drafts to them to encash the dollars. However, the customers found the DDs to be fake and lodged complaints with the police in 1992.

The Hyderabad City police had arrested Hasan Ali twice between 1991 and 1992, once for allegedly cheating the State Bank of Hyderabad and the next time for duping private persons.

The city police had caught him in 1991 with the help of Interpol and the Canadian police for cheating the SBH. On the pretext that his mother was ill in Toronto, he had fled to Canada after a case was registered against him.

The Hyderabad police had alerted Interpol about Hasan Ali and they informed the Toronto police who arrested him and brought him to Mumbai, after which he was taken to Hyderabad. Subsequently, he was acquitted.

He is said to have been picked up by the police from Mumbai again in 1992, brought to Hyderabad and remanded to judicial custody in one of these cheating cases. The police had seized four cars, including a Mercedes, from him. He went free, however, since the victims did not come forward to pursue the cases against him.

The oldest case against Hasan Ali pertained to an acid attack on a doctor, his neighbour, in 1984. Dr P Niranjan Rao's face was disfigured and he had to undergo 30 surgeries. Since the police could not trace the records relating to the case, it is not clear whether Hasan Ali was arrested and acquitted in this case.

Hailing from a Hyderabadi family based at Musheerabad, Hasan Ali has a brother and four sisters. He married Mahboobunnissa Begum in 1985 but divorced her in 1999. Mahboobunnissa now lives with her two sons at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.