Delhi Excise Policy Scam: ED accused AAP communications chief Vijay Nair receiving kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore from the “South Group”
Raghav Magunta, the son of YSR Congress Party MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, was arrested on Saturday by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy Money Laundering Case, according to news agency PTI. According to PTI, Raghav was arrested on Friday night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
ED arrests Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, in Delhi excise policy money laundering case: Officials
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 11, 2023
As per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Raghav Magunta was arrested on Friday night, according to reports.
The federal investigation agency will ask the court to take him into custody once he is likely to appear before it in a local court.
The ED has made nine arrests in this case, with three this week.
This week, the agency arrested Rajesh Joshi, the director of an advertising firm called Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd, and Gautam Malhotra, the son of former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA from Punjab, Deep Malhotra.
ED recently accused AAP communications chief Vijay Nair of receiving kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore from the “South Group,” which allegedly included Magunta, Sarath Reddy, and Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, in its supplementary prosecution complaint filed over alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy case.
Last year, it searched locations connected to the Member of Parliament.
In this case, the ED has so far filed two chargesheets or complaints against the accused.
The money laundering investigation started with a CBI FIR.
A former chartered accountant for Kavitha was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a few days prior in connection with alleged violations in the Delhi excise policy.
Butchibabu Gorantla, a Hyderabad-based CA, was arrested as part of the ongoing investigation into the Delhi Excise Policy Case because of his alleged involvement in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy, which resulted in the wrongful gain for Hyderabad-based wholesale and retail licensees and their beneficial owners under the Delhi Excise Policy for the years 2021–2022. He was shown in court today, according to CBI spokesperson R C Joshi.
Manish Sisodia, the deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, and other government excise officers were charged in the CBI and ED charges.
THE DELHI LIQUOR SCAM
The city’s alcohol supply chain was changed by the Delhi Excise Policy 2021–22, which went into effect in November of last year. As a result of the government’s withdrawal from the market, only private operators are now permitted to operate liquor stores.
32 zones were created in Delhi to allow businesses to submit license bids. Licenses were given to 849 retail sellers overall after an open bidding process.
Delhi L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena’s proposal for a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi’s Excise Policy 2021–22 brought the liquor plan under attention.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led government revoked the Delhi Excise Policy, which went into effect on November 17, 2021, in July 2022 after a CBI investigation into its execution. The money trail in the suspected scheme is being investigated by the ED.
According to the CBI’s FIR, Manish Sisodia and the other government employees charged in the case made choices about the excise policy for 2021–22 without getting permission from the appropriate parties and with “an aim to offer undue favours to the licensees post tender.”
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According to the FIR, Sameer Mahendru, the proprietor of Indospirit, one of the liquor retailers involved in anomalies in the formulation and application of the excise policy, is accused of making at least two payments totalling worth crores to “close associates” of Sisodia.
Additionally, it was claimed in the FIR that Sisodia’s “close associates” were actively involved in managing and misusing the money obtained from liquor licence holders for the case’s accused. According to the FIR, Sisodia’s associates received between Rs 4 and 5 crores in the two payments.
The FIR related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act mentioned a total of 15 people, including the deputy chief minister of Delhi. The Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who suggested a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities in the execution of the Excise Policy 2021–22, served as the basis for the FIR.
The framing and implementation of the excise policy by the AAP government might also be the subject of a money laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
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