A supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate alleged that more than Rs 1.1 crore was laundered in the alleged Delhi excise scam, PTI reported. The additional chargesheet was filed against BRS leader K Kavitha before a Delhi court.
According to the ED, out of Rs 1,100 crore, Kavitha was involved in the proceeds of crime (PoC) worth Rs 292.8 crore.
The allegations were made in a supplementary complaint by the prosecution, ED’s equivalent of a charge sheet, filed before special judge Kaveri Beweja, PTI reported. Beweja on Monday extended Kavitha’s judicial custody till July 3.
The judge extended the custody after Kavitha was produced before the court following the earlier order issuing production order against her, according to the PTI report.
The court had issued the arrest warrants after hearing a chargesheet against the BRS leader in the case on May 29.
The court also granted bail to three co-accused – Prince, Damodar and Arvind Singh. The three defendants were charged without being arrested during the investigation by the ED.
“According to the investigation so far, the total proceeds of crime identified amount to Rs 1.1 billion, of which Rs 292.8 million are dealt with in this complaint of the prosecution. Through the activities of the accused, i.e. , Kavitha, Champreet Singh, Prince Kumar , Damodar Sharma and Arvind Singh, huge profits have been generated from crime,” the chargesheet alleges.
The charge sheet claimed that Kavitha was involved in PoC (money generated and laundered in crimes) of Rs 292.8 crore, of which bribes of Rs 100 crore were given to AAP leaders.
Did Kavitha conspire with members of the South Group and AAP leaders through accused Vijay Nair (acting on behalf of senior AAP leaders) to pay bribes to the tune of Rs 100 crore and receive undue benefits, the documents claimed.
Kavitha, by paying bribes to government officials through her middlemen, was involved in generating PoC of Rs 100 crore, the chargesheet said, adding that she was then involved in transferring this PoC to government officials. .
The ED further stated that Kavitha, through conspiracy and formation of IndoSpirits, a company accused in the case, was involved in the generation, acquisition and use of PoC of Rs 192.8 crore, which was derived as a result of the conspiracy of bribery and payment of bribes.
By showing IndoSpirits as a genuine business entity and acquiring the PoC of Rs 192.8 crore, it participates in projecting this PoC as a genuine profit from a legitimate business, the ED alleged.
“By way of participating in the conspiracy for formation of IndoSpirits to recover advance bribes of Rs 100 crore paid, Kavitha is knowingly involved in the generation and transfer of PoC of Rs 100 crore and the generation, acquisition and possession of PoC 192.8 crore. under the guise of profits generated by IndoSpirits during November 2021 to August 2022,” the ED alleged.
Kavitha also received the PoC of Rs 5.5 crore from IndoSpirits on behalf of her associate and co-accused in the case, Abhishek Boinpally, the federal agency said.
The report further accused Kavitha of destroying digital evidence to hide her role and involvement in the case.
“Kavitha deleted evidence and contents of her mobile phone. She submitted nine phones for examination, which were formatted and had no data. She was evasive and could not give any explanation regarding those formatted phones,” the ED alleged.
He further alleged that Kavitha also engaged in acts of influencing the witnesses.
The 46-year-old BRS leader is in judicial custody in the two cases filed by the ED and the CBI for the alleged scam.
The “scam” refers to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.