Noida:

After the Noida Police, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will now take forward the investigation into the case involving YouTuber and former Bigg Boss OTT winner Elvish Yadav and his eight associates for organising a rave party in Noida, where snakes and snake venom were reportedly found.

The Noida Police have already submitted a 1,200-page charge sheet in the court naming Elvish Yadav and his associates as accused. The police also submitted electronic evidence, a forensic report, besides the statements of 24 witnesses in the case.

The ED will now collect information related to this case from the Noida Police and take the investigation forward with the help of the evidence recorded in the charge sheet.

The Noida Police have also sent the mobile phones of Elvish Yadav and two other accused to the forensic laboratory for examination.

The ED is likely to question Elvish Yadav soon, sources said.

According to police sources, the three phones that have been sent to the forensic lab contained videos and chats related to rave parties and the use of snake venom.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached four immovable properties having a value of Rs 22.47 lakh belonging to Shashi Prakash and Jai Kishore Chaudhary (both Executive Engineers) in case of the MGNREGA scam in Jharkhand.

According to ED, this is the fourth provisional attachment order issued in the case.

The total properties worth Rs 106.86 crore, including this provisional order, have been attached/ seized till date in the subject case.

The probe agency had initiated an investigation on the basis of 16 FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in reference to embezzlement of Rs 18 crore in MGNREGA work in Jharkhand’s Khunti district.

“Further, a chargesheet filed by Jharkhand Police revealed that Junior Engineer RBP Sinha, Assistant Engineer R.K. Jain (now deceased), Shashi Prakash and Jai Kishore Chaudhary, both executive engineers, were involved in the combined embezzlement of Rs 18.06 crore,” it said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Earlier, ED had conducted several searches under the provisions of PMLA on May 6, 2022, at the premises related to these engineers and also at the premises related to IAS Pooja Singhal, the then DC of Khunti district, during which huge cash of Rs 19.58 crore was recovered and seized.

“Further, three persons namely Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, Pooja Singhal and CA Suman Kumar have been arrested in this case and three prosecution complaints have already been filed against Sinha, Singhal, Abhishek Jha, Jai Kishore Chaudhary, R.K. Jain (deceased), Shashi Prakash and CA Kumar before the Special (PMLA) Court, Ranchi wherein trial is under progress,” it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Invoices of a refrigerator and smart TV are among the evidence the Enforcement Directorate used to support its claim that Jharkhand’s ex-chief minister Hemant Soren acquired 8.86 acres of land worth more than Rs 31 crore illegally.

The federal probe agency obtained these receipts from two Ranchi-based dealers and attached those to its charge sheet filed against the 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and four others last month.

The special PMLA court of Judge Rajiv Ranjan in Ranchi took cognisance of the prosecution complaint on April 4.

Mr Soren was arrested by the ED on January 31 in a money laundering case related to the alleged land grab, shortly after he resigned as chief minister. He is currently in judicial custody in Birsa Munda jail at Hotwar in Ranchi.

According to the ED, the two gadgets were purchased in the name of the family members of one Santosh Munda who told the agency that he has been “residing as a caretaker of the property of Hemant Soren on the said land (8.86 acres) for 14 to 15 years”.

The agency used Mr Munda’s statement to counter Mr Soren’s claim that he had no link with the said land. The ED also rejected the claim of a person named Rajkumar Pahan on the piece of land, alleging that he was a “front” for Soren to keep the asset under his control.

The ED claimed that soon after Mr Soren was issued the first summons in this case in August last year, Mr Pahan wrote to the deputy commissioner of Ranchi stating he and some others have the land in possession and the earlier mutation in the name of other owners be cancelled and they may be saved from being evicted from their property.

The state government “restored” the land to Mr Pahan on January 29, two days before Mr Soren’s arrest, so that the JMM leader’s control and possession remained “unimpeded,” the ED alleged.

According to the federal probe agency, the land was originally a ‘Bhuinhari’ property that cannot be transferred or sold to anyone under general situations and ‘Mundas’ and ‘Pahans’ were the owners of such land assets.

The immovable asset was later sold to some persons by the original allottees but Soren got them “evicted” and gained control of the land in 2010-11, the ED claimed.

Santosh Munda also told the ED that Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana visited the land “two to three times” and that he worked as a labourer when a boundary wall was being erected at the plot.

The ED claims Mr Munda was entrusted the charge of the property’s caretaker at the behest of Mr Soren, apart from another accused in the case Hilariyas Kachhap who got an electricity meter installed there.

A refrigerator was purchased in February 2017 in the name of Mr Munda’s son while a smart TV was purchased in November 2022 in the name of his daughter at the address where the land is located in Ranchi, the agency said.

Thus, the ED said, it is “established” that Santosh Munda and his family were residing at this property and it was not in possession of the accused person Rajkumar Pahan.

“Rajkumar Pahan is acting as a frontman of Hemant Soren so that the property can somehow be shown to be in possession of Pahan and his family members and the evidence against Mr Soren can be frustrated and the proceeds of crime can be kept concealed,” the agency claimed.

The ED has listed these two bills as evidence and attached them with the charge sheet under the ‘relied upon documents’ category as it sought prosecution of Soren and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Mr Soren, Rajkumar Pahan, Hilariyas Kachhap, Bhanu Pratap Prasad and Binod Singh have been named as accused in the 191-page charge sheet. The piece of land — 12 adjacent plots guarded by a cemented wall — has also been attached by the ED on March 30 and it is valued at over Rs 31.07 crore.

The agency stumbled upon this case of alleged land grab while probing another money laundering case of 2022 where a 4.55-acre land of the defence ministry at Morabadi in Ranchi was “acquired fraudulently”.

According to the ED, the probe found that “a group of some private persons in connivance with government officials including the ex-DC Ranchi, Chhavi Ranjan, and Bhanu Pratap Prasad (sub-inspector of Jharkhand government revenue department) were part of a land-grabbing syndicate.” “They were involved in corrupt practices which included acquiring properties based on false deeds, falsification of government records, tampering with original revenue documents etc, to facilitate private persons to acquire landed properties fraudulently,” it said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The ED has summoned Amit Palekar, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Goa unit chief, and some other party leaders from the coastal state for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy on March 28, official sources said on Wednesday.

The AAP leaders have been asked to depose at the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) office in Goa’s Panjim on Thursday, the sources said.

Amit Palekar, who was the AAP’s chief ministerial face during the February 2022 Goa Assembly polls, had recently said there was no evidence to prove that any illicit money was sent to the state, asserting that he and his party colleagues were ready to face any inquiry.

The ED arrested AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the case on March 21.

The agency has claimed in its chargesheet that the AAP used “proceeds of crime” to the tune of about Rs 45 crore in its Goa poll campaign, from the Rs 100 crore “bribe” that was pumped in by the “South Group” that allegedly involved Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha.

Arvind Kejriwal will be produced before a Delhi court by the ED at the end of his remand period on Thursday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A court in Delhi today extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of BRS leader K Kavitha, an accused in the Delhi excise policy scam case, till March 26.

The federal probe agency has sought a five-day extension of her custody.

The ED has alleged that Ms Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was a key member of the ‘South Group’ that has been accused of paying the AAP kickbacks of Rs 100 crore in return for a big share of liquor licences in the national capital.

After producing her in court, the ED said that she was confronted with the statements of four people and a forensic report of the data extracted from her phone. The probe agency also told the court that raids were being conducted at the house of her nephew in Hyderabad.

BRS leader’s counsel filed a bail plea in court.

Ms Kavitha, 46, a Telangana Legislative Council member, was arrested by the central probe agency from her residence at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad on March 15.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Minister Gopal Rai has claimed that the family of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been put under “house arrest.”

The Delhi Minister arrived at the residence of the AAP chief and questioned why he was being restricted from meeting Arvind Kejriwal’s family.

“I have come here to meet his family but they have been put under house arrest. Under which law am I being stopped from meeting his family?” Mr Rai told reporters.

He further said that Arvind Kejriwal has continuously worked for the people of Delhi. Mr Rai was finally allowed to visit the family after getting permission.

Meanwhile, AAP workers gathered outside the AAP office and extended their support to the Delhi Chief Minister. Protestors have also gathered outside the AAP office in support of the Delhi Chief Minister.

Earlier today, while addressing a press conference, Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi said that it is the first time that a sitting CM has been arrested by the central government.

“It is the first time that a sitting CM has been arrested by the central government. Even the Jharkhand Chief Minister resigned before his arrest. In the country’s history, it is the first time that, after the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the national convenor of a national party has been arrested. Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest is the BJP’s political conspiracy,” Atishi said.

She further said that the party had faith that the Supreme Court would protect democracy in the country.

“If this is not about damaging a level playing field, then what is it?…We hope that today as well, the Supreme Court will protect democracy in the country…BJP wants that Arvind Kejriwal should not be able to campaign in Lok Sabha elections…We are in touch with INDIA alliance leaders, they have expressed solidarity with Arvind Kejriwal,” she added.

A team from the Enforcement Directorate arrived at Mr Kejriwal’s residence on Thursday to interrogate him regarding the liquor policy case. During a search operation conducted at his residence, Mr Kejriwal was arrested amidst dramatic circumstances, as the AAP convener failed to obtain interim protection from arrest in the liquor policy case from the Delhi High Court.

The Enforcement Directorate took him to the agency’s headquarters later. The Delhi CM will be produced at the Rouse Avenue court later in the day.

AAP workers and leaders rallied behind Mr Kejriwal following his arrest, while leaders of the INDIA bloc also extended their support for the AAP leader. BJP leaders extended their support to the ED’s actions against the Delhi Chief Minister, emphasising that “truth had to prevail.”

The INDIA bloc parties came out in support of Mr Kejriwal and criticised the BJP for using ED as a weapon against the Opposition.

On March 15, ED also arrested Bharat Rashta Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in connection with its investigation into money laundering charges linked to the now-scrapped excise policy.

Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in judicial custody in the excise policy case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, a Rajya Sabha member.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

BRS leader K Kavitha, arrested from her Hyderabad home by the Enforcement Directorate last evening in the Delhi liquor policy case, was taken to the agency’s headquarters in the national capital around midnight. The agency moved her to Delhi for further questioning in the case.

After landing in the city, she was taken to the agency’s office, where medical tests were done.

The agency will produce former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s daughter before the Rouse Avenue court at 10:30 am today to seek her remand for custodial interrogation.

Security around the ED headquarters has been tightened this morning and prohibitory orders have been imposed.

Reacting to her arrest, Ms Kavitha’s brother and former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao in a post on X said, “Abuse of power and institutional misuse to settle political scores is something that has become increasingly common with BJP government in last 10 years. ED needs to answer the Supreme Court on the inordinate rush to arrest when the matter is very much sub-judice and up for review in a couple of days, on the 19th of March. What’s even more appalling is the ED undermining its own undertaking given to the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Justice shall prevail and we will continue to fight legally.”

Abuse of power and institutional misuse to settle political scores is something that has become increasingly common with BJP Govt in last 10 years

ED needs to answer Supreme Court on the inordinate rush to arrest when the matter is very much sub-judice & up for review in a…

— KTR (@KTRBRS) March 15, 2024

The financial probe agency on Friday took Telangana’s Legislative Council Member K Kavitha, 46, in custody in a dramatic arrest and hours-long raid at her premises in Hyderabad in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Ms Kavitha was arrested pm from her Banjara Hills home in Hyderabad.

The arrest came weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and on a day the Congress government in the state completed 100 days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also in Malkajgiri, a suburb in Hyderabad, where he held a massive roadshow.

The Supreme Court had granted the BRS leader immunity from interrogation till Wednesday and heard her petition against the agency’s summons in the case on Friday. The next hearing will be on Tuesday.

Kolkata:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) this morning started conducting searches at multiple locations in Kolkata and its neighbouring areas in connection with its probe into the teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal, officials said.

A five-member ED team was conducting searches at the residence of a former para-teacher, alleged to be a close associate of arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, at Patharghata Mazar Sharif area in New Town adjoining Kolkata, they said.

Searches were also underway at the house of an accountant in Nagerbazar area in the northern part of the city, the officials said.

Probe agency ED searches were conducted in Rajarhat area at the residences of some businessmen, teachers, and intermediaries allegedly involved in the scam.

The ongoing raids are part of the ED’s probe to track the flow of money in the multi-crore scam.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen Rs 123 crore, belonging to Singapore-based shell entities, parked in bank accounts of Mumbai-based NIUM Indian Pvt Ltd as part of its probe into a money laundering case of illegal online loans, gambling, and betting apps through a cluster of mule accounts in Kerala.

The amount was frozen following searches conducted last week at 10 locations in Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi at the premises of NIUM India Pvt Ltd and its directors based in Mumbai, Xoduz Solution Pvt Ltd, Vikrah Trading Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Tyrannus Technology Pvt Ltd, Future Vision Media Solutions Pvt Ltd, Aprikiwi Solution Pvt Ltd in Chennai and Raphael James Rozario, Kochi, to trace and unearth the proceeds of crime in the case.

As per the ED, the Rs 123 crore amount frozen by the agency is suspected to be proceeds of crime, belonging to shell entities of Singapore and parked in the bank accounts of NIUM Indian Pvt. Ltd on their behalf.

In the operations, the ED also recovered and seized several digital devices, various incriminating documents, multiple bank accounts used for laundering, and details of various movable and immovable assets of the accused person and entities.

ED initiated the investigation based on the FIR registered by Kerala Police and Haryana Police on the complaints given by various persons for their exploitation and cheating through online platforms such as loan, gambling, and betting apps being controlled by Chinese entities.

ED investigation revealed that proceeds of crime generated from the apps and other platforms, are aggregated and laundered through mule accounts opened in various banks in Kerala using payment aggregators.

“The funds collected, layered through multiple shell companies in Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, and were finally being remitted outside India through various channels such as Crypto Currency, against fake imports of software from Singapore and Forex currency purchases,” said the agency in a statement.

ED investigation revealed that the accused floated many shell entities in India and used the same to send proceeds of crime to shell companies floated in Singapore.

“These Singapore shell entities would raise fake invoices for supply of software and other services in the name of the shell Indian entities in India where the proceeds of crime would have already been aggregated. These invoices are shared by global forex settlement platform named NIUM Singapore Pte Ltd (Singapore) who has Indian subsidiary Company namely NIUM India Pvt Ltd to collect the money from Indian entities based on fake invoices and transfer the same as outward remittance to NIUM Singapore Pte Ltd in the name of payment for technical services and such funds will be credited such funds in virtual wallet of Singapore Shell entities.”

Except the fake invoice, the ED said, no other documentation was collected by NIUM India Pvt Ltd from the remitters.

“In this manner, the shell remitter, the shell remittee and the sham import transactions were concealed from the Bank and monitoring agencies and the proceeds of crime are thereby laundered out of India,” said the ED.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday attached lands, a building and bank deposits worth more than Rs 73.43 lakh as part of a money laundering investigation against Uttar Pradesh gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari.

The attached properties include land measuring 1,538 sq. ft. situated at arazi no. 604, Mauja Rajdepur Dehati, Tehsil Sadar in Ghazipur district apart from a commercial building constructed over it, and a plot of land measuring 6,020 sq. ft. situated at arazi no. 169 in Mauja Jahangirabad, Pargana under Tehsil-Sadar in Mau district, the agency said in a statement.

The total registered value of these properties is Rs 73,43,900.

These properties were acquired by Abbas Ansari (Mukhtar Ansari’s son) at an “undervalued consideration of Rs 71.94 lakh as against government rate of Rs 6.23 crore”, it said.

In addition, Rs 1.5 lakh in the form of bank account deposits of Mukhtar Ansari have also been attached after a provisional order was issued by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it said.

The money laundering case against Mukhtar Ansari stems from multiple FIRs registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

“Mukhtar Ansari and his family members usurped government land and built a warehouse over it. The warehouse was hired on rent by Food Corporation of India Limited and rent was paid to the family members of Mukhtar Ansari,” it said.

The ED had earlier attached seven immovable properties with a book value of Rs 1.5 crore (in the form of a plot of lands in district Mau and Jalaun) belonging to Mukhtar Ansari’s wife Afshan Ansari and Vikas Construction, a firm controlled by Mukhtar Ansari and his family.

Mukhtar Ansari, Abbas Ansari (a sitting MLA from Mau Sadar constituency) and Mukhtar Ansari’s brother-in-law Atif Raza have been arrested by the ED in this case till now even as the agency has filed a charge sheet against them before a court.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)