ED raids 24 sites in Gujarat, Maha over poll fund fraud

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out searches at 24 locations in poll-bound Maharashtra and neighbouring Gujarat as part of a money laundering probe against a Malegaon-based trader who allegedly misused bank accounts for electoral malpractice.

The searches were conducted on premises connected to the trader and related entities in Thane, Vashi, Malegaon and Nashik in Maharashtra, and Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat under the

provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case involves money laundering of Rs 125 crore, sources informed. The case is related to the opening of multiple bank accounts in Malegaon by one Siraj Ahmed Harun Memon, a trader who runs a cold drinks agency. The ED’s action is based on an FIR registered by the Malegaon police on November 7 against Memon on the complaint of a local youth and other persons. Memon was booked and later arrested.

With Maharashtra set to vote on November 20, it was alleged that Memon was utilising bank accounts for routing funds meant for elections. Memon had allegedly opened bank accounts in the Nasik Merchants Cooperative Bank based on the KYC documents of several people on the pretext of starting a new business in which he was required to send money to farmers.

Over a dozen bank accounts were opened in the past two months. When the ED obtained the transaction details of these accounts, it was found to be around Rs 125 crore.

The anti-money laundering agency suspects that Memon may be misusing the bank accounts and banking system for routing money for some individuals. The agency is also looking into allegations that the money will be used for electoral purposes. So far, no political leader’s name has cropped up in the investigation.

On Thursday morning, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya termed the matter as a “vote jihad funding” scam, alleging that the money from these benami bank accounts was withdrawn for misuse during the elections.

20 sites linked to ‘lottery king’ Santiago raided

The ED on Thursday conducted fresh searches against Chennai-based “lottery king” Santiago Martin, the single biggest donor to political parties with over Rs 1,300 crore in electoral bonds, as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said. The ED conducted searches at 20 locations in Chennai, Coimbatore, Faridabad, Ludhiana and Kolkata in connection with the case.