Page 9 - Money Laundering Case

NewsClick UAPA case: Court takes cognisance on Delhi police's chargesheet

The Additional Sessions Judge, Dr Hardeep Kaur, fixed May 31 for arguments on charges while taking cognisance of the chargesheet

SC seeks ED's response on ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's interim bail plea

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on an interim bail plea of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the ED and sought its response by May 6. The bench said the Jharkhand High Court may pronounce its verdict on Soren's plea challenging his arrest in the case. The order was reserved on February 28. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Arunabh Chowdhury, appearing for Soren, said they want interim bail in the matter. Soren moved the top court on April 24, saying the high court was not pronouncing the verdict on his plea challenging his arrest in the case. Soren was arrested on January 31 shortly after he resigned as the chief minister, and state transport minister Champai Soren was named his successor. The probe against Soren pertains to an 8.86-acre plot of land in Ranchi that the ED has alleged was illegally acquired by him. The mon

SC to hear Kejriwal's plea against arrest in money laundering case Monday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to hear the matter. Kejriwal had earlier told the apex court that his "illegal arrest" in the case constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on "free and fair elections" and "federalism". In a rejoinder to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) reply affidavit filed on his petition challenging his arrest in the case, Kejriwal said the mode, manner and timing of his arrest just before the Lok Sabha elections when the Model Code of Conduct had come into play, speaks volumes about the "arbitrariness" of the agency. Kejriwal claimed it is a "classical case" of how the Centre has misused the ED and its wide powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to "crush" the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders.

ED arrests retired Chhattisgarh IAS officer Tuteja in liquor 'scam' case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested retired Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja in connection with an alleged liquor scam linked money laundering case in the state, official sources said on Sunday. The federal agency had detained the 2003 batch officer from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW)/Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) office in Raipur on Saturday where the bureaucrat and his son Yash Tuteja had gone to record their statement in the same case. The IAS officer was later taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to be produced before a magistrate seeking his remand, the sources said. The officer retired from service last year. The ED had filed a fresh money laundering case in the alleged liquor scam case after the Supreme Court recently quashed its earlier FIR that was based on an Income Tax Department complaint. The agency shared details of its probe in the case with the state EOW/ACB seeking registration of a FIR

Waqf board scam: ED arrests AAP's Amanatullah Khan in money laundering case

As per CBI's charges, Khan had acquired huge proceeds of crime in cash through the illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan appears before ED in money laundering case

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in connection with a money laundering case, officials said. The deposition of the 50-year-old legislator from the Okhla assembly seat comes after the Supreme Court last week refused to entertain his anticipatory bail application in the case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board during his chairmanship. The apex court directed him to join the investigation on April 18. Speaking to reporters this morning, Khan said he did not do anything wrong. The money laundering case against Khan stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and three Delhi Police complaints. The ED, which had conducted raids on the premises of the legislator, has claimed Khan acquired "huge proceeds of crime" in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested those to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.

ED searches, assets attachment, convictions rose exponentially under BJP

Searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the anti-money laundering law rose by 86 times while arrests and attachment of assets jumped by around 25 times in the ten years since 2014 compared to the preceding nine-year period, according to official data. An analysis of the data by PTI for the last ten years, between April 2014 and March 2024, against the nine years from July 2005 to March 2014 presents a picture of the federal agency's "intensified" action under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The PMLA was enacted in 2002 and implemented from July 1, 2005, to check serious crimes of tax evasion, generation of black money and money laundering. While the opposition parties have alleged that the ED's action during the last decade was part of the BJP-led central government's "oppressive" tactics against its rivals and others, the Union government and the ruling party have asserted that the agency is independent and its investigations

ED arrests four more people in money laundering case against Hemant Soren

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made four fresh arrests in connection with the alleged illegal land grab-linked money laundering case against former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and others, official sources said on Wednesday. Those taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have been identified as Antu Tirkey, Priya Ranjan Sahay, Bipin Singh and Irshad, they said. The ED had on Tuesday conducted searches at the premises of Tirkey and some others here. With these arrests, the total number of people taken into custody in this case has risen to eight. Soren, 48, was arrested by the ED in January shortly after he resigned as the chief minister. He is currently lodged in Birsa Munda jail at Hotwar here under judicial custody. Prime accused and former revenue department sub-inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Mohammed Saddam Hussian and Afshar Ali have also been arrested. The probe against Soren pertains to an 8.86-acre plot of land

ED arrests one more; conducts searches in Ranchi in a case against Soren

The Enforcement Directorate has made a fresh arrest in connection with the money laundering investigation against former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and others, official sources said Tuesday. The federal agency also undertook some searches in Ranchi against a person named Antu Tirkey, who is allegedly linked to the case. The arrested person identified as Afshar Ali was lodged in jail under judicial custody in another money laundering case and the agency has taken his custody in the latest case after seeking a designated court's permission. Ali is accused of committing "forgery" for allegedly grabbing some land in Jharkhand in purported connivance with the prime accused in the case against Soren and former revenue department sub inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad. This is the fourth arrest in the instant case. The 48-year-old JMM leader Soren was arrested by the ED in January shortly after he resigned as the CM. He is currently lodged at the Birsa Munda jail at Hotwar in Ranch

ED nabs man who managed AAP's Goa poll funds, party claims probe motivated

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly "managed" cash funds for AAP's campaign in the 2022 Goa Assembly polls, in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on Monday. The Aam Aadmi Party alleged the ED was carrying out a "politically motivated" probe and it was unable to recover a single rupee or find evidence in the matter. Singh was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on April 12 and was produced before a special court here the next day, the sources said. He has been sent to ED custody till April 18 by the court, they said. This is the 17th arrest in the case by the ED. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his party colleague and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, BRS leader K Kavitha and a number of liquor businessmen and others have been arrested earlier by the federal agency. Singh was earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation too in the same case

Excise policy scam case: K Kavitha seeks bail, court to hear plea today

BRS leader K Kavitha on Monday moved a Delhi court seeking bail in a corruption case lodged by the CBI in connection with the alleged excise scam. The application is likely to be taken up for hearing later in the day by special judge for the CBI and ED, Kaveri Baweja, who earlier in the day sent Kavitha to judicial custody till April 23. The daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao was arrested from Tihar Jail, where she has been lodged after her arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The CBI produced the accused before court on expiry of her three-day police custody granted earlier by the judge and sought her JC. The probe agency told the court that she was not required for further custodial interrogation. Advocate Nitesh Rana, representing Kavitha along with Deepak Nagar, opposed the police plea, saying the grounds were not sufficient to keep her in custody since she is no longer required for custodial interrogation. CBI officials had recently questi

Excise policy scam: ED's reply sought over Kejriwal's plea against arrest

The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Enforcement Directorate on a plea by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest in a money-laundering case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the ED on Kejriwal's plea challenging the Delhi High Court order that had upheld his arrest in the case. The bench asked the ED to file reply to the plea by April 24, and said the matter would be heard in the week commencing April 29. The high court had on April 9 upheld his arrest in the money-laundering case, saying the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation. The high court had dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's petition challenging his arrest by the ED and subsequent remand in the federal agency's custody. The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi

Supreme Court stays trial in money laundering case against Santiago Martin

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the proceedings before a special court in a money laundering case against 'lottery king' Santiago Martin. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice on a plea by Martin challenging the March 16 order of a special PMLA court in Kerala's Ernakulam dismissing his petition for keeping in abeyance the trial in the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi and advocate Rohini Musa, who appeared for Martin, said that the special court ought to have considered that the trial in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case can commence only after the conclusion of the trial in the predicate case. On March 16, the special court dismissed Martin's application seeking to keep in abeyance the trial in the ED case till the conclusion of trial in the predicate offence, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case related to an alleged lottery scam. In his plea before the top .

Liquor policy case: K Kavitha's judicial custody extended till April 23

K Kavitha, who has been accused of paying bribes in exchange for liquor licences in Delhi, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 15

ED makes fresh arrest in money laundering case against Hemant Soren

The Enforcement Directorate has made a fresh arrest in connection with its ongoing money laundering investigation against former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, official sources said Tuesday. Mohammed Saddam was lodged in jail as part of an alleged land scam case of Jharkhand and the central agency took his custody under the anti-money laundering law after an application was made to the court, the sources said. This is the third arrest in the case after the 48-year-old Soren and former state government revenue department sub inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad. Saddam is alleged to have "forged" land records related to the 8.86 acre land in Ranchi that the ED has alleged was illegally acquired by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader. Soren was arrested by the ED in January shortly after he resigned as the CM. He is currently lodged at the Birsa Munda jail at Hotwar in Ranchi under judicial custody.

Drugs money laundering case: ED conducts raids in TN against Jaffer Sadiq

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out raids in multiple cities in Tamil Nadu as part of a drugs trafficking-linked money laundering investigation against former DMK functionary Jaffer Sadiq and others, officials said. As many as 25 premises in the state capital Chennai, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli are being searched by ED officials, accompanied by an escort of central paramilitary forces, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The premises of Sadiq, who is also a producer of Tamil films, film director Ameer and some others are being covered, they said. Sadiq, 36, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) last month for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of about 3,500 kg of pseudoephedrine with a street value of more than Rs 2,000 crore. The ED took cognisance of this NCB case and some other FIRs to file the money laundering case against Sadiq and others. The NCB has said that Sadiq's links with Tamil and

ED uses fridge, smart TV invoices as evidence in PMLA case against Soren

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. 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 l

Bhushan Steel case: HC issues notice on ED's plea challenging bail grant

The agency has challenged the order granting bail to Archana Ajay Mittal on medical grounds

Delhi Court flags deficiencies, delays in ED money laundering probe

A Delhi Court criticised the Enforcement Directorate over a money laundering case in which the ED chose not to prosecute two individuals who had incriminating evidence against them

SC notice to ED on bail plea of Senthil Balaji in money laundering case

The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Enforcement Directorate on the bail plea of former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested last year in connection with a money laundering case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to the agency and directed it to file reply by April 29. The Madras High Court on February 28, while dismissing the bail petition, had said that if he is let out on bail in a case of this nature, it will send a wrong signal and that it will be against larger public interest. It had said the petitioner has suffered incarceration for more than eight months and therefore, it will be more appropriate to direct the special court to dispose of the case within a time frame. "Accordingly, there shall be a direction to the Principal Special Court, Chennai, to dispose of the case within a period of three months from the date of receipt of copy of this order," it had ordered. The high court ordered that the trial shall b