The ED on Wednesday said it has seized cash amounting to over Rs 10 crore, including about Rs 8 crore from a relative of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, during raids conducted in connection with an anti-money laundering investigation against illegal sand-mining operations in the poll-bound state.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut asking him to appear on July 1 for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the re-development of a Mumbai 'chawl' and other related financial transactions involving his wife and friends, officials said.
The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra Chawl, a tenement, and related financial transactions involving his wife and associates.
The Enforcement Directorate, which has been investigating the Mahadev app-linked money laundering case for more than a year, alleged in the past that its probe has shown involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh, where the two main promoters of the app hail from.
Shivakumar, arrested on September 3 by the ED, was produced before the court on the expiry of his 9-day custodial interrogation by the agency.
Sources said his residence and NGO offices located in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj, Adchini and Mehrauli areas are being searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The investigators are unable to join several dots due to lack of evidence from the crime scene.
The officials said several "incriminating" documents have been seized during the searches, which reveal the "large-scale conversion" allegedly carried out by Umar Gautam and his organisations across India.
As per procedure, the headquarters of the agency have been sealed for 48 hours and are expected to resume operations on Monday, the officials said.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth over Rs 14 crore belonging to the Gitanjali Group and its promoter and jeweller Mehul Choksi, one of the prime accused in the alleged over Rs 13,000 crore PNB loan fraud case. The properties attached, under the anti-money laundering law, include a flat measuring 1,460 sq feet located at O2 Tower in Goregaon area of Mumbai, gold and platinum jewellery, diamond stones, necklaces made of silver and pearls, watches and a Mercedes Benz car, the ED said in a statement. A provisional order for attachment has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the assets worth a total Rs 14.45 crore that are in the name of Gitanjali Group of companies and its director Mehul Choksi, it said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case, on Thursday alleged that the 'actual' excise scam started after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe and not when the policy was made and that the agency's 'two main motives' were to crush his Aam Aadmi Party and to declare it corrupt.
Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MP and nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was questioned for about nine hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi on Monday in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal pilferage scam in the state.
Deshmukh's personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde were arrested by the ED on June 26, after it carried out raids against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur.
Special judge Arvind Kumar issued notice to the agency and directed it to file a reply on Michel's plea, which had stated that he had not named anybody in connection with the deal during investigation by the ED and that even though the court has not taken cognisance of the documents, in order to make the entire case a sensation again in the media, the agency had leaked the chargesheet.
Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's sister and brother-in-law have "turned approvers" in the over $2 billion PNB fraud case against him and they will help the Enforcement Directorate confiscate assets worth Rs 579 crore, including Swiss bank deposits, the agency said on Thursday. Forty-nine-year-old Nirav Modi, who is currently lodged in a London jail, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others are being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) money laundering case since 2018. The diamond merchant's younger sister Purvi Modi (47) is a Belgian national while her husband Maiank Mehta is a British citizen. They are stated to be based abroad and have never joined the probe.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case linked to alleged excise policy scam, said section 19 of the PMLA, which gives power to arrest, puts stringent safeguards to protect life and liberty of individuals.
Edtech firm Think and Learn, which owns Byju's brand, has not paid the July salary to employees as the company was unable to access its accounts due to a temporary stay granted by the Supreme Court on the NCLAT's decision, a top official said on Tuesday. On August 2, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) approved the Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with BCCI and set aside insolvency proceedings against Byju's.
The CBI during its probe got inputs of a large cache of arms hidden in Sandeshkhali. On Friday morning, a CBI team started a search operation during which the arms, including foreign-made pistols, were seized, the officials said.
The apex court rejected the preliminary objection raised by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia cannot be permitted to file second set of special leave petitions to challenge the Delhi high court's May 21 verdict which denied him bail in the excise policy cases.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday examined Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar Jail and recorded his statement related to the excise policy case.
Bollywood singer Adnan Sami, who has been facing trial in a matrimonial dispute, has been asked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to furnish documents regarding eight luxurious flats owned by him in suburban Andheri.
A court in New Delhi on Tuesday sent Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha to judicial custody till April 9 on a plea made by the Enforcement Directorate that the 'highly influential' arrestee, if released, was likely to influence witnesses and tamper with evidence.
While making his first appearance on Friday, after he arrived by air from Bengaluru, the Kanakapura MLA had said he will cooperate with the ED probe.
The agency said the first-of-its-kind attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act "enabled" the zoo authorities to retain the animals as the smuggler was making attempts to take them away.
They said the 22-year-old management graduate will be questioned and her statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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The CBI has recently filed a chargesheet in a court in Kolkata.
The human rights organisation has called for an independent inquiry into the selective leaks of information.
The ED, it is understood, wants to grill Vadra about the operations of a firm -- Ms Skylight Hospitality Private Limited -- allegedly linked to him, which had purchased land in the area.
A whopping Rs 62,476 crore has been "illegally" transferred by smartphone maker Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India, the Enforcement Directorate said Thursday, as it claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies. This money is almost half of Vivo's turnover of Rs 1,25,185 crore, it said without stating the time period of the transaction. The crackdown on the leading Chinese company came after the federal probe agency found that three Chinese nationals, all of whom "left" India during 2018-21, and one other person from that country incorporated as many as 23 companies in India in which they were also helped by a Chartered Accountant, Nitin Garg.
Agrasain Gehlot has been asked to depose before the investigating officer on Wednesday in Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they said.
In a setback to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed its plea challenging a Calcutta high court order transferring to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the probe into the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in Sandeshkhali, allegedly by supporters of the now suspended TMC local strongman Shahjahan Sheikh.
He is the fourth leader of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, which is ruling in alliance with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra, to face the heat from the central agency.
Vadra is expected to be questioned again on either Friday or Saturday.
As many as 26 premises are being searched in these cities by the federal agency under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they said.
It is expected that her statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and she would be confronted with documents and statements made by Shivakumar with regard to a trip to Singapore he made with his daughter in 2017.
A bench comprising Justices R F Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat rejected the request of the Solicitor General, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, to issue a notice to the other side on the appeal.
Both the central agencies had recently initiated action in the case, with the CBI questioning Lalu Prasad and his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and the ED carrying out raids against the RJD chief's family.
The ED summons have come close on the heels of filing of a chargesheet by the CBI against Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around Rs 10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The bench said the report submitted by the special judge indicates that he has 29 cases with him. In many cases, the trial has begun while in many others the trial is yet to begin.
Sources said Mallya has also been asked to furnish documents related to his personal finances
