Mumbai. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested a man after he was caught at the Ahmedabad International Airport in connection with its money laundering probe linked to a ‘vote for note’ case in Maharashtra. Official sources gave this information on Wednesday.
Sources said that the ED had issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against N Akram Mohammad Shafi, on the basis of which he was first caught by the immigration officials at Ahmedabad airport in the neighboring state of Gujarat. They told that he was trying to escape to Dubai. Sources said that Shafi has been arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Last week, this federal agency had conducted raids in the electoral state of Maharashtra and neighboring state of Gujarat in the case registered against Malegaon businessman Siraj Ahmed Harun Memon. Memon is accused of allegedly misusing the bank accounts of various people for transactions worth more than Rs 100 crore.
Senior BJP leader in Maharashtra Kirit Somaiya raised this issue of Malegaon and termed it as ‘Vote Jihad scam’. He alleged that voters were given cash in exchange for votes in the assembly elections. Elections for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly were held from 7 am to 6 pm on Wednesday. This money laundering case is based on the FIR registered by the Malegaon police on November 7 against tea and cold drink agency operator Memon and some of his associates.
Malegaon resident Jais Lotan Misal had complained that his bank account had allegedly been misused for illegal transactions. This led to speculation that the accounts were misused to send money to influence elections. According to sources, Shafi is among those on whose instructions Memon opened more than a dozen bank accounts in Nashik Merchant Cooperative Bank and allegedly transferred an amount of Rs 14 crore through hawala.
It is alleged that Memon took KYC details (PAN, Aadhaar etc.) from about a dozen people to open bank accounts and told them that he wanted to start a maize business and hence he needed to take money from farmers. According to sources, the accused allegedly opened two more accounts by taking KYC documents from his friends. These 14 accounts were opened between September and October this year.
ED has found entries of deposit and withdrawal of more than Rs 100 crore in each of these accounts. Sources said that more than 2,500 transactions done in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha and West Bengal and around 170 bank branches are under the ED’s scanner as money was either deposited in these accounts or Went or were expelled.