News Analysis India

Tag: money laundering case

  • Delhi Court reserves order on remand days to journalist Rajeev Sharma in PMLA case

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: A Delhi Court reserved order on remand days to Rajeev Sharma, a freelance journalist. He was recently arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 on the charges of supplying confidential and sensitive information to Chinese intelligence officers, in exchange for remuneration. ED today has sought seven days of further remand of him.

    ED while seeking further remand stated that unearthing the end-use of funds involved in the instant case would assist in ascertaining the exact quantum of the proceeds of crime, determining the role of various other persons and aides who facilitated the offence of money laundering in the instant case.

    Further custodial interrogation of the accused is required as he is still to be confronted with the voluminous evidence on record, in order to facilitate an effective investigation of the case. During interrogation, the accused has been confronted with part evidence on the record but due to his non-cooperative and evasive attitude, confrontation on certain crucial aspects of the case still remains pending, stated the remand application.

    Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana after hearing the arguments of both sides said the order will be passed sometime today.

    Amish Aggarwala Advocate with Aditya Singh Jakhar and Karan Ahuja Advocates argued on behalf of Journalist Rajeev Sharma opposing the remand application of ED in the court.

    The Directorate of Enforcement arrested Rajeev Sharma under the PMLA on 01.07.2021.

    The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of the FIR and charge sheet filed by Delhi Police against Sharma under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

    Earlier, ED stated that, during the investigation, it was revealed that Sharma had supplied confidential and sensitive information to Chinese intelligence officers, in exchange for remuneration thereby compromising the security and national interests of India.

    ED also stated that it was further revealed that cash for remuneration of Rajeev Sharma and other unknown persons was being generated through hawala means by Mahipalpur based shell companies that were run by Chinese nationals namely Zhang Cheng @ Suraj, Zhang Lixia @ Usha and Quing Shi along with a Nepali national Sher Singh @ Raj Bohara. Apart from cash, huge transactions were made with various Chinese companies and some other trading companies in India which are being examined.

    These Chinese companies were acting as a conduit for the Chinese Intelligence agencies to provide remuneration for persons like Rajeev Sharma who indulged in criminal activities. Rajeev Sharma also received money through bank accounts in order to conceal his involvement in criminal activities, said the ED.

    Earlier Delhi Police had arrested Rajeev Sharma under various sections of the IPC and Official Secrets Acts. Later he was granted bail by the Delhi High Court. 

  • NIA court allows ED to record Sachin Waze’s statement in money laundering case against Anil Deshmukh

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) obtained National Investigation Agency (NIA) court’s permission to record suspended Mumbai Police Officer Sachin Waze’s statement in a money laundering case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh at Taloja prison tomorrow.

    ED officers have confirmed that a team will visit Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai to record Waze’s statement tomorrow.

    The probe agency had earlier informed the court that various bar owners were called by it for a statement and they had categorically said that they paid Rs 40 lakh to Sachin Waze as Good luck Money in December 2020 when Waze was Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) head.

    ED had told the court that the bar owners paid Rs 1.64 crore and Rs 2.66 crore to Mumbai Police’s Zone 1 to 7 and Zone 8 to 12.

    “Sachin Waze told bar owners that money will go to so and so. Sachin Waze has also accepted that he has collected Rs 4.77 crore between December 2020 and February 2021 and handed over the money to Kundan Shinde. Two police officers’ statements were recorded and they said that Palande was also given money. Sachin Waze also verified this statement of police officers about Palande,” ED’s lawyer had told the court.

    The case against the former Home Minister was registered on May 11.

    NIA arrested Waze in March in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai.

    Waze is the prime accused in placing an explosives-laden vehicle near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s house Antilia in Mumbai on February 25.

    Waze was also accused of the murder of Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the vehicle that was found containing explosives materials outside Antilia.Hiren was found dead on March 5 in Thane.

    Waze, former Assistant Police Inspector in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), was later transferred to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at Mumbai Police Headquarters after his name came up in Mansukh Hiren’s death case.

    Waze was dismissed from service in May 2021. 

  • PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s mother summoned by ED for questioning in money laundering case

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned the mother of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti for questioning in a money laundering case on July 14, officials said on Tuesday.

    They said Gulshan Nazir, in her late seventies, has been asked to appear before the central probe agency at its office in Srinagar.

    Mehbooba (62), expressed surprise that the notice was served on her mother on the day her People’s Democratic Party (PDP) decided not to meet the Delimitation Commission, set up to redraw Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.

    Posting the summons on her official Twitter handle, Mehbooba said, “ED sent a summon to my mother to appear in person for unknown charges. In its attempts to intimidate political opponents, GOI (Government of India) doesn’t even spare senior citizens. Agencies like NIA (National Investigation Agency) and ED are now its tools to settle scores.”

    Nazir is the wife of the late Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

  • Money laundering case: Anil Deshmukh’s aides sent in judicial custody till July 20

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special PMLA court here on Tuesday remanded two aides of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in judicial custody tilll July 20 in a money laundering case against the politician, related to charges of bribery of Rs 100 crore.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde on June 26.

    They have been booked under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The duo was produced before special judge SM Bhosle at the end of their ED remand on Tuesday.

    The court remanded them in judicial custody, as sought by the probe agency.

    Earlier, the ED had told court that the two accused played a “very crucial” role in the offence.

    Earlier, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had alleged that Deshmukh, when he was the home minister, had directed dismissed policeman Sachin Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore per month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

    The ED’s case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by Singh on the orders of the Bombay High Court.

    The CBI had booked Deshmukh and others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act for “attempt to obtain undue advantage for the improper and dishonest performance of public duty”.

    Deshmukh, who resigned as the state home minister in April this year following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.

  • Bank fraud: ED arrests Shakti Bhog CMD in money laundering case

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI:  The ED on Monday said it has arrested Kewal Krishan Kumar, chairman and managing director (CMD) of Delhi-based Shakti Bhog Foods Limited, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged multi-crore bank loan fraud.

    Kumar was arrested on Sunday here and later produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court that sent him to ED custody till July 9, the federal investigative agency said in a statement.

    The agency, prior to the arrest, also raided at least nine premises in Delhi and Haryana.

    “During the searches, various incriminating documents and digital evidences have been recovered,” it said.

    The ED case filed under criminal sections of the PMLA is based on a CBI FIR that was filed early this year against Shakti Bhog Foods Limited for an alleged fraud of Rs 3,269 crore on a consortium of 10 banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI).

    The CBI complaint came after the SBI registered a complaint against the company.

    According to the SBI, the directors allegedly falsified accounts and forged documents to siphon off public funds.

    The 24-year-old company, which is into manufacturing and selling wheat, flour, rice, biscuits, cookies etc., had grown organically as it ventured into food-related diversification over a decade with a turnover growth of Rs 1,411 crore in 2008 to Rs 6,000 crore in 2014, the bank had said.

    The ED said the “allegations against the accused include diversion of funds from loan accounts by round-tripping through related entities and siphoning of funds was being done by way of suspicious sale/purchase from various entities.

    ” The bank report to the CBI said the turnover growth of the company came to an abrupt halt in 2015 with the account turning into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) and it was ultimately declared a fraud in 2019.

    The account turned an NPA on account of inventory losses owing to a steep fall in paddy prices, under-utilisation of capital expenditure in the rice and paddy segments and a delay in the tie-up funds to tide over losses, an investigation report by the bank on staff accountability had noted in 2017.

    A forensic audit done by the bankers pointed out that the company, in its account books of financial year 2015-16, showed that its inventory worth over Rs 3,000 crore got damaged due to pests and was sold at substantially low prices.

    This was contradictory to the stock and receivable audit report, which showed that the company had a stock of over Rs 3,500 crore in September 2015, its warehouses were fully stocked and none of the inventory was obsolete or slow moving, the bank had alleged in its complaint.

  • Money laundering case: Court extends ED custody of Anil Deshmukh’s aides till July 6

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special PMLA court here on Thursday extended till July 6 the ED custody of two aides of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with a money laundering case against the politician related to charges of bribery of Rs 100 crore.

    Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 26, after it carried out raids against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur.

    The two were booked under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    They were produced before the special PMLA court here on Thursday after the end of their earlier remand.

    The court extended their remand to the ED till July 6 for further probe into the case.

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    The central agency had earlier told the court that the duo was allegedly instrumental in assisting Deshmukh in money laundering.

    The ED’s case againstdcx Deshmukh and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by a regular case being filed on the orders of the Bombay High Court.

    The court had asked the CBI to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    Deshmukh, who resigned as the state home minister in April this year following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.

  • Ex-Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh fails to appear before ED, requests for virtual interaction

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh did not appear before the ED in connection with a money laundering case on Tuesday, citing COVID-19 and his old age, and requested for a virtual interaction on a day suitable for the central agency.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had asked the 71-year-old NCP leader to appear before it at 11 am on Tuesday, after he did not depose before the investigating officer here on Saturday.

    Deshmukh had on Saturday sought a fresh date for appearance in the money laundering case related to an alleged multi-crore bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to his resignation from the post of home minister in April this year.

    On Tuesday, Deshmukh submitted a letter to the agency through his lawyer Inderpal Singh as authorised representative, in compliance with the summons. In the letter, Deshmukh requested for a copy of the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) and other documents from the ED.

    “I am a law abiding citizen. I am sanguine to expose the falsity, hollowness and lack of substance in the allegations levelled against me,” he said in the letter. Deshmukh also cited COVID-19 times and the fear of exposure (to the infection) due to his age and co-morbidities and sent his lawyer as the authorised representative. “I am a septuagenarian, about 72 year of age, and suffering from various co-morbidities, including hypertension and cardiac problems,” he mentioned in the letter.

    Deshmukh also said he already had a long interaction with the probe agency officials on June 25, spanning over several hours, during the course of search and recording of his statement. He reiterated that he will furnish all information and any document that the ED may require once he is aware of the content and details of the ECIR.

    “I am at your disposal through any audio-visual mode of interaction at any time convenient to your good self, today or any other day, any time so convenient,” Deshmukh said in the letter.

    Meanwhile, Deshmukh’s lawyer told mediapersons that they were cooperating with the probe agency and will continue to do so in future too. “We are providing documents to them and have requested for a new date (for appearance),” said the lawyer.

    After receiving the required documents from ED officials, Deshmukh will appear before the agency, he said.

    The ED on Saturday arrested Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande (51) and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (45) after it carried out raids against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur on Friday.

    The ED’s case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by a regular case being filed on the orders of the Bombay High Court.

    The court had asked the CBI to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Deshmukh, who resigned from his post in April following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.

  • ED registers money laundering case against Anil Deshmukh

    By ANI
    MUMBAI:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case of money laundering against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

    According to ED sources, the case was filed on the basis of the FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

    Earlier in April, the CBI had conducted raids at four premises of Deshmukh after registering an FIR against him in connection with allegations made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    An FIR was filed based on section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) and criminal conspiracy (IPC 120 B).

    During the searches, the CBI recovered incriminating documents and digital devices, sources confirmed.

    Deshmukh resigned from his post after the Bombay High Court directed the CBI to initiate an enquiry based on Param Bir Singh’s allegations.

    On May 4, Deshmukh had moved the Bombay High Court seeking the quashing of the CBI FIR against him. The Court adjourned the petition and refused to give any interim protection to Deshmukh from any coercive action by the CBI.

    Singh, in his letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, had alleged that Deshmukh had indulged in “malpractices” and asked suspended Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crores every month.

    Waze was arrested in March in connection with the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) probe into the case of recovery of an explosives-laden SUV near Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai and the subsequent murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran. (ANI)

  • Mehbooba Mufti questioned by ED; says central agencies being ‘misused’ to silence opposition

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for more than five hours on Thursday, said while dissent has been criminalised, the central agencies like the NIA, CBI and the ED were being “misused” to silence the opposition.

    She alleged that anyone opposing the current government was “hounded by trumped up charges” like sedition or money laundering.

    “Dissent has been criminalised in this country. The ED, Central Bureau of Investigation and the National Investigation Agency are being misused to silence the opposition tactically,” Mufti said after emerging from the ED office at Rajbagh here.

    “This country is not being run by the Constitution but the agenda of a particular political party,” she alleged.

     Asked about the questions put forth to her by the ED, the PDP chief said she was asked about the sale of her ancestral land in Bijbehara area of Anantnag district and the use of the chief minister’s discretionary funds.

    “Questions were asked regarding the sale of our ancestral land in Bijbehara and use of the chief minister’s discretionary fund.

    I was asked from where would come the list of widows who were receiving help from the CM’s secret funds,” Mufti said, adding that she had nothing to fear as her hands were clean.

    The former chief minister said her party will continue to pursue the agenda for resolution of Jammu and Kashmir’s problem and restoration of its special status as it existed before August 5, 2019.

    Mufti did not appear before the agency in Delhi on Monday, citing that she had prior commitments which could not be cancelled.

    The Peoples Democratic Party president requested ED officials to question her in Srinagar and not in Delhi, and her request was accepted.

    The 61-year-old leader, who was released last year after more than a year in detention following the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, was served a notice to appear at the ED headquarters in the national capital.

    On March 19, the Delhi High Court had refused to stay summons issued to her after she moved the court seeking quashing of the summons in the case.

    The ED, which had earlier summoned Mufti on March 15, had not insisted on her personal appearance at that time.

    “I write to you in reference to the summons issued to me to be present at your Delhi office on March 22. I have challenged in the Delhi High Court the constitutional vires of Section 50 of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), under which these summons are issued,” she said in a letter to the ED.

    Section 50 of the PMLA empowers the authority, that is, officers of the ED, to summon any person to give evidence or produce records.

    Persons summoned are bound to answer the questions put to them and to produce documents as required by the ED officers, failing which they can be penalised under the PMLA.

    The PDP leader had said that without prejudice to any of the contentions in the proceedings before the high court, “I state that I am not in a position to attend the summon on March 22 as I have prior commitments that cannot be cancelled at such a short notice”.

    “If, however, you insist we must do it sooner, I am ready and willing to be questioned in Srinagar, preferably at my residence or through video conference from Srinagar,” Mufti had said in her letter.

  • Mehbooba Mufti questioned by ED; says central agencies being ‘misused’ to silence opposition

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for more than five hours on Thursday, said while dissent has been criminalised, the central agencies like the NIA, CBI and the ED were being “misused” to silence the opposition.

    She alleged that anyone opposing the current government was “hounded by trumped up charges” like sedition or money laundering.

    “Dissent has been criminalised in this country. The ED, Central Bureau of Investigation and the National Investigation Agency are being misused to silence the opposition tactically,” Mufti said after emerging from the ED office at Rajbagh here.

    “This country is not being run by the Constitution but the agenda of a particular political party,” she alleged.

     Asked about the questions put forth to her by the ED, the PDP chief said she was asked about the sale of her ancestral land in Bijbehara area of Anantnag district and the use of the chief minister’s discretionary funds.

    “Questions were asked regarding the sale of our ancestral land in Bijbehara and use of the chief minister’s discretionary fund.

    I was asked from where would come the list of widows who were receiving help from the CM’s secret funds,” Mufti said, adding that she had nothing to fear as her hands were clean.

    The former chief minister said her party will continue to pursue the agenda for resolution of Jammu and Kashmir’s problem and restoration of its special status as it existed before August 5, 2019.

    Mufti did not appear before the agency in Delhi on Monday, citing that she had prior commitments which could not be cancelled.

    The Peoples Democratic Party president requested ED officials to question her in Srinagar and not in Delhi, and her request was accepted.

    The 61-year-old leader, who was released last year after more than a year in detention following the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, was served a notice to appear at the ED headquarters in the national capital.

    On March 19, the Delhi High Court had refused to stay summons issued to her after she moved the court seeking quashing of the summons in the case.

    The ED, which had earlier summoned Mufti on March 15, had not insisted on her personal appearance at that time.

    “I write to you in reference to the summons issued to me to be present at your Delhi office on March 22. I have challenged in the Delhi High Court the constitutional vires of Section 50 of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), under which these summons are issued,” she said in a letter to the ED.

    Section 50 of the PMLA empowers the authority, that is, officers of the ED, to summon any person to give evidence or produce records.

    Persons summoned are bound to answer the questions put to them and to produce documents as required by the ED officers, failing which they can be penalised under the PMLA.

    The PDP leader had said that without prejudice to any of the contentions in the proceedings before the high court, “I state that I am not in a position to attend the summon on March 22 as I have prior commitments that cannot be cancelled at such a short notice”.

    “If, however, you insist we must do it sooner, I am ready and willing to be questioned in Srinagar, preferably at my residence or through video conference from Srinagar,” Mufti had said in her letter.