Srinagar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has filed a prosecution complaint against alleged Gujarat-based swindler Kiran Patel in a special court here under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED said the court took cognizance of the prosecution complaint and issued a notice to the accused to appear before it on November 27.
On August 29 last year, a local court had granted bail to Ahmedabad resident Patel. Patel was arrested on charges of posing as a top official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to defraud people and gain undue favors from the administration.
The ED had initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR lodged at Nishat police station in Srinagar against Patel and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. “Investigation revealed that the fraudster Patel posed as Additional Director (Strategy and Operations) in the PMO and created fake identity cards to defraud people and earn income from crime,” the investigating agency said.
“Then by using those fake identity cards and posing as fake officers, he illegally obtained security from the administration of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, thereby causing wastage of resources and financial loss to the government exchequer,” it said.
He also duped the gullible businessmen of Gujarat and gained undue benefits by falsely promising to provide business opportunities in the Kashmir Valley.” Earlier, the ED had on May 19, 2023 searched various premises linked to Patel and others. Prosecution material, records and electronic devices were seized in raids under PMLA.
The agency said that investigation into the matter is ongoing. Patel came into limelight when he was arrested from a five-star hotel in Srinagar in March for posing as a top official in the PMO. Earlier in the video that went viral, he was seen roaming around the security circle.
Security officials had caught him on March 3 when he was on his third visit to Kashmir. Patel had claimed that the government had entrusted him with the task of identifying buyers for apple orchards in South Kashmir.