New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned BRS leader and former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao in connection with alleged financial irregularities linked to the Formula E race held in Hyderabad in February 2023. Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer BLN Reddy have also been summoned in the same case.

KTR has been summoned on January 7, while Mr Kumar and Mr Reddy are scheduled for questioning on January 2 and 3, respectively. The probe is being conducted following an FIR lodged by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The allegations centre on unauthorised financial transfers totalling Rs 55 crore from the HMDA to Formula E Operations Limited (FEO). Investigators allege that the funds were transferred without mandatory government approvals, despite the state’s original agreement limiting its role to providing infrastructure and civic amenities for the event. Additional transfers of Rs 54.8 crore for the 2023 race are also under examination, along with a broader financial commitment exceeding Rs 600 crore for future races.

The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered by the ED names KTR, Mr Kumar, and Mr Reddy as accused. 

This is the second money laundering case implicating the family of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. KTR’s sister, K Kavitha, was previously arrested and later released on bail in the Delhi excise policy case. The ED’s summons marks another political and legal challenge for the BRS party.

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday said it has begun restituting assets worth more than Rs 2,500 crore as part of a money laundering investigation against absconding businessman Mehul Choksi in connection with the alleged Rs 13,000 crore PNB loan fraud case.

The federal agency said in a statement that it initiated the ‘restitution of assets’ to the rightful owners in this case following an order passed by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court based in Mumbai.

“In pursuance to the order, the process of handing over of assets has been initiated and properties worth more than Rs 125 crore have been handed over to the Liquidator of Gitanjali Gems Ltd (a company of Choksi).

“The handed over properties include six flats in Kheni Tower at Santacruz in east Mumbai and two factories/godowns situated at Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) in the capital city of Maharshatra,” it said.

The ED has attached or seized assets worth Rs 2,565.90 crore in this PMLA case against Choksi and the court has allowed “monetisation” of all these properties.

The agency said it took “proactive steps” to initiate the restitution process and the probe agency, along with the affected banks, “agreed to take a common stand” and moved the court.

The court, on September 10, ordered that the ED would “facilitate” the banks, liquidators in different Gitanjali Group companies to carry out valuation and auction of the attached or seized properties. It also directed that after auction of the said properties, the sale proceeds would be deposited in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and ICICI Bank (affected lenders) as fixed deposits.

Choksi has been staying in Antigua since 2018 after leaving India.

Choksi, his nephew, fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi and their family members and employees, bank officials and others were booked by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2018 for perpetrating the alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of the PNB in Mumbai.

It was alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems, and others “committed the offence of cheating against PNB in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LoUs (letters of undertaking) issued and got the FLCs (foreign letter of credit) enhanced without following prescribed procedure”.

The agency has filed three chargesheets against Choksi till now.

Nirav Modi, declared a fugitive economic offender, is lodged in a London jail after he was held by the authorities there in 2019 on the basis of a legal request made by the ED and the CBI in this case. He is contesting extradition to India.

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

Mumbai:

After several media reports emerged on social media claiming an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid at actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra’s house, her lawyer issued a statement, saying she has “nothing to do with any offence.”

In a statement, advocate Prashant Patil called the reports “misleading.”

“There have been reports in the media saying that my client Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra has been raided by the Enforcement Directorate. These reports are not true and are misleading. As per my instructions, there is no Enforcement Directorate raid on Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra as she has nothing to do with any offence of whatsoever nature,” the statement read.

Mr Patil also mentioned the case in question is an ongoing probe regarding Raj Kundra, and that he has been cooperating with the authorities.

“However, the case in question is an ongoing investigation regarding Mr Raj Kundra and he is cooperating with the investigation for truth to come out,” he mentioned.

The lawyer also requested media personnel to refrain from using pictures and videos of Shilpa Shetty while mentioning the case in the reports.

“Would request the electronic and print media to refrain from using the videos, pictures and name of Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra as she has nothing to do with the case. Strict cognisance shall be taken against irresponsible journalism wherein the pictures or videos of Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra are shared on this matter,” the statement concluded.

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

Mumbai:

The ED told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that it would not act upon the eviction notices issued to actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra till their application challenging a property attachment order is heard and decided by an appellate tribunal.

On September 27, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued notices to Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband, directing them to vacate their house in Mumbai’s Juhu area and a farmhouse in Pune in connection with a money laundering case.

The duo challenged the same in the HC, terming it as arbitrary, illegal and uncalled for.

The notices were issued pursuant to an attachment order passed by the agency against the couple’s properties.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan had on Wednesday asked the ED what was the urgency to issue an eviction notice after the attachment order was passed when the couple has a legal remedy to appeal against the order.

On Thursday, the ED told the court that the eviction notices shall not be acted upon till the petitioners file their appeal against the attachment order and the same is decided by the tribunal.

The bench accepted the statement and said in the event of an adverse order by the tribunal, the notices shall not be brought into effect for a period of two weeks thereafter.

The court disposed of the petitions.

Ms Shetty and Raj Kundra, in their petitions, challenged the ED notices dated September 27 directing them to evict their residential premises here and a farmhouse in Pune within 10 days in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged Bitcoin fraud.

The couple’s advocate, Prashant Patil, said Ms Shetty and Mr Kundra received the eviction notices only on October 3. He termed the notices arbitrary and illegal and sought them to be quashed.

According to the pleas, there is no grave urgency for the petitioners to vacate their premises and that the issuance of such eviction notices was uncalled for.

“The petitioners are also seeking relief on humanitarian grounds as the premise in question is their residential premise in which they have been staying with their family of six members for almost two decades,” the couple said in their pleas.

The petitions also demanded that the HC stay the effect of the eviction notices.

As per the pleas, the ED in 2018 lodged a complaint against one Amit Bhardwaj and others for an alleged Bitcoin fraud and on charges of money laundering. Shilpa Shetty and her husband have not been named as accused in the case.

The ED, during its probe, summoned Kundra for questioning on several occasions. Raj Kundra appeared before the agency after each summons, the pleas said.

In April 2024, Ms Shetty and Raj Kundra received a notice based on an order passed by the ED provisionally attaching their assets, including their residential premise in Mumbai’s Juhu area which was purchased by Raj Kundra’s father in 2009.

Both Ms Shetty and Raj Kundra submitted their response to the notice.

“However, in contravention to the provisions of law, the adjudicating authority confirmed the provisional attachment order on September 18, 2024. This order clearly states that the attachment is confirmed only till the conclusion of trial and is subject to its outcome,” the pleas said.

“The petitioners (Ms Shetty and Mr Kundra) on October 3 received two notices dated September 27, 2024, directing them to vacate their residential premises and the farmhouse,” the couple said.

No eviction order/notice can be issued prior to conviction, the petitions said.

The couple in their pleas also said their residential premise has no connection with the scheduled offence or any proceeds of crime.

The petitions further claimed that Raj Kundra had absolutely no connection with the alleged fraud.

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

Kolkata:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing allegations of financial irregularities at the state-run R.G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata has traced ‘questionable’ properties purchased by the controversial former principal of the institute, Sandip Ghosh, and his wife Sangeeta Ghosh.

According to a statement issued by the probe agency on Tuesday, on September 6, the ED conducted search operations at seven premises, including the residences of Sandip Ghosh, his close relatives and associates, in connection with misappropriation of funds at R.G. Kar Medical College, which has been in the news ever since the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor on the hospital premises last month.

As per the statement, during the search operations at Mr Ghosh’s residence, the ED “seized various incriminating documents, documents related to properties acquired by Sandip Ghosh and his wife Sangeeta Ghosh, and digital devices”.

During the search, it was unravelled that Sangeeta Ghosh had purchased two immovable properties without proper approval from the concerned authorities.

ED officials are investigating the angle of assets disproportionate to income belonging to both Ghosh and his wife, including two residential flats close to R.G Kar, one residential flat in Murshidabad, and one luxurious multi-room farmhouse-cum-bungalow in South 24 Parganas district.

Some of these properties were purchased during the period when Sandip Ghosh was the principal of R.G Kar Medical College.

Both ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are conducting parallel investigations into the case of financial irregularities at R.G Kar.

While, CBI’s is a court-monitored probe, ED has taken suo motu cognisance of the case by registering an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR).

The ED officials have already traced the involvement of multiple shell entities that were used to unethically bag tender-awards for supply of medical equipment or work-orders for infrastructure maintenance work at RG Kar, all during the period when Sandip Ghosh was at the helm of its affairs.

Meanwhile, a special court in Kolkata on Tuesday sent Sandip Ghosh and three others to judicial custody till September 23 for their alleged involvement in the financial scam at R.G. Kar.

The three others sent to judicial custody are Afsar Ali, Suman Hazra, and Biplab Sinha. While Ali is the personal bodyguard of Mr Ghosh, Mr Sinha and Mr Hazra are vendors who supplied medical equipment to R.G. Kar when Mr Ghosh was its principal.

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

New Delhi:

Four persons have been arrested in connection with a Rs 400 crore “fraud” online betting and gaming app allegedly linked to some Chinese nationals, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said today.

Arun Sahu, Alok Sahu, Chetan Prakash and Joseph Stalin were taken into custody under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case related to the app named ‘Fiewin’, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed at the Cossipore police station in Kolkata against some unknown persons for “cheating” and “conspiracy” with a number of online gamers through the app.

“An amount of Rs 400 crore was generated from the Fiewin app fraud and thereafter was credited into eight Binance (global crypto exchange) wallets in the name of Chinese nationals. These wallets were operated from the Chinese mainland as revealed by the access IP logs.

“The Chinese nationals communicated with and instructed the four accused persons through digital communication especially groups on Telegram (social communication app),” the Enforcement Directorate said.

Since these four persons played an “active role” in the Fiewin app-based scam and they are found to be involved in the offence of money laundering, they were arrested, the agency said.

The ED did not say when these persons were arrested but added that a special PMLA court in Kolkata sent them to 14 days of ED custody.

Probe found, the ED said, that Chinese nationals were operating the app with the help and support from Indian nationals.

The funds mobilised from “gullible” online gamers through the Fiewin app were deposited into the bank accounts of some persons — called recharge persons — who had allowed the use of their accounts by the app owners in lieu of certain commissions, as per the investigation conducted by the ED.

The agency found that Arun Sahu and Alok Sahu, based in Odisha’s Rourkela, acted as “recharge persons” and the funds received in their bank accounts from the app were converted into cryptocurrency.

The duo deposited and “laundered” the cryptocurrency earned from Fiewin app and credited into the wallets of Chinese nationals on Binance, a foreign crypto exchange, it said.

Chetan Prakash, a Patna-based engineer, played a “key role” in the money laundering activities by helping the “recharge persons” in conversion of Indian rupee into cryptocurrency, the ED said.

Joseph Stalin, a software engineer based in Chennai, helped a Chinese national named Pie Pengyun from Gansu province to become co-director of Studio 21 Pvt Ltd, a company owned by him.

The ED said Pengyun used the account of Studio 21 Pvt Ltd for bulk payout services related to the app which helped them gain the confidence of gamers in the beginning and provoked larger bets from the app users.

“The funds used for payout services were received by Joseph Stalin as cryptocurrency in his Binance account from the wallets controlled by the Chinese handlers. He in turn converted cryptocurrency into INR (Indian Rupee) by selling the crypto through P2P mode on Binance,” the agency claimed.
 

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

New Delhi:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested an Assistant Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for accepting bribes of Rs 20 lakh in the national capital.

The arrested ED official has been identified as Sandeep Singh Yadav. He was accepting a bribe from a jeweller in lieu of giving relief to the jeweller’s son in the case registered in ED.

A senior CBI official confirmed that the ED official has been arrested from the Lajpat Nagar area in Delhi.

CBI received a complaint and acting on the same, a trap was laid and the ED official was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe.

CBI is in the process of getting an FIR registered in the case, said officials.

More updates on the matter are awaited.

Notably, in Aug 2023, the CBI arrested an Assistant Director of ED along with six other officials for accepting bribes of Rs 5 crore to save Delhi businessman Aman Dhall in the Delhi liquor scam case.

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

New Delhi:

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi today claimed that an Enforcement Directorate raid is being planned against him after his ‘chakravyuh‘ speech in Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi said he is “waiting with open arms”.

“Apparently, 2 in 1 didn’t like my Chakravyuh speech. ED insiders’ tell me a raid is being planned,” Rahul Gandhi alleged in a post on X.

“Waiting with open arms @dir_ed ..Chai and biscuits on me,” the former Congress chief said.

Apparently, 2 in 1 didn’t like my Chakravyuh speech. ED ‘insiders’ tell me a raid is being planned.

Waiting with open arms @dir_ed…..Chai and biscuits on me.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 1, 2024

In another development, Congress MP Manickam Tagore today submitted a notice to move an adjournment motion on “the BJP government’s misuse of agencies like the ED, CBI, and Income Tax for political harassment”.

Using the ‘chakravyuh’ metaphor as a leitmotif, Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that an atmosphere of fear prevails all around with a ‘group of six’ trapping the entire country in a ‘chakravyuh‘ he promised would be broken by the INDIA bloc.

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on Budget 2024-25, Rahul Gandhi had said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will ensure that a legal guarantee for MSP as well as a caste census is passed by the House.

“Thousands of years ago in Haryana’s Kurukshetra, six people killed a youth, Abhimanyu, in a ‘chakravyuh‘,” Rahul Gandhi said, adding that “A ‘chakravyuh‘ has violence and fear.”

Rahul Gandhi’s reference was to the Mahabharat legend according to which Abhimanyu was killed in a ‘chakravyuh’. ‘Chakravyuh’ refers to a multi-layered military formation aimed at trapping a warrior by opponents placed strategically in an alignment resembling a lotus-shaped labyrinth.

He had said the ‘chakravyuh‘ is also called a ‘padmavyuh‘ for its resemblance to a lotus (BJP’s election symbol) formation.
 

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

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.)