Delhi excise case: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly "managed" funds for the Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign during the 2022 Goa assembly polls, in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise scam, official sources said Monday.
As per the sources, Singh was detained under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on April 12 and was presented before a special court in the following day. He has been sent to the ED custody till April 18 by the court.
17th arrest in case by ED
Notably, this is the 17th arrest in the case by the ED. Earlier, the federal agency had arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his party colleague and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, BRS leader K Kavitha, and several liquor businessmen, among others.
Singh was earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) too in the same case.
Here's what ED calims
The ED has officially documented that Chanpreet Singh was involved in managing cash payments for the campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during the 2022 Goa elections and had a "relationship" with the political outfit currently in power in Delhi.
The federal agency has alleged that the 'South Group', which includes Kavitha, TDP candidate from Ongole Lok Sabha seat Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, businessman Sarath Chandra Reddy, and others, paid a bribe of Rs 100 crore to the AAP. This payment was purportedly made to obtain a prime position in the Delhi liquor market under the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
Out of these alleged kickbacks, the ED has claimed, Rs 45 crore was used by the AAP to fund its Goa election campaign.
The probe agency has alleged that cash transactions were facilitated for survey workers, area managers, assembly managers, and others involved in the AAP's election campaign activities in Goa. According to the ED, individuals engaged in these activities stated that these transactions were "managed" by a person named Chanpreet Singh.
It further said that an employee of an 'Angadia' firm, which allegedly moved cash funds illegally, confessed to distributing substantial amounts of cash in Goa to several individuals, including Singh. Singh was reported to be associated with Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd at the time.
Chanpreet Singh collected more than Rs 17 crore
Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd was the company contracted by the AAP for its Goa election campaign. The director of the company, Rajesh Joshi, was apprehended by the ED in connection with the case last year.
The ED had alleged that Singh collected a total of more than Rs 17 crore (Rs 17,38,14,500 in total) in over 18 instances from the employee of the 'Angadia' company between August 2021 and January 2022. This claim was purportedly corroborated by the analysis of call data records (CDR) from mobile phones.
It said Singh "received salary from the Aam Aadmi Party" in February 2022 and also received salary from a company called Wizspk Communications and PR Ltd, which was engaged by the Delhi government.
Moreover, the ED claimed that he had also received funds from OML (Only Much Louder) events management company of arrested AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair, and "these facts are prima facie reflective of his relationship with the Aam Aadmi Party".
Delhi liquor policy case
The case pertains to the alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 which was later scrapped. The case originated from a report presented by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July 2022, highlighting purported procedural deficiencies in the development of the policy. The report said "arbitrary and unilateral decisions" taken by AAP leader Manish Sisodia in his capacity as Excise Minister had resulted in "financial losses to the exchequer" estimated at more than Rs 580 crore.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy. Subsequently, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
