The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen balances worth $Rs 440 crore in three bank accounts belonging to the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency said on Wednesday.
An order has been issued under Section 17 (1A) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act to freeze funds held in three accounts maintained by the Mamata Banerjee-led party with HDFC Bank.
The development comes a day after the agency raided properties linked to the charter airline in and around Kolkata as part of its probe into alleged suspicious transactions from TMC’s bank accounts.
“The ED Kolkata Zonal Office conducted searches at five premises in and around Kolkata under the provisions of the PMLA, of the Carewell group of companies operating in the aviation sector. During the searches, balances amounting to $Rs 440.42 crore has been frozen in three HDFC Bank accounts of AITC under Section 17(1A) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act,” the CEO said in a statement.
The agency’s statement added that investigations revealed this $Rs 160 crore (approx) was transferred from AITC Bank accounts to Carewell Aviation India Pvt. Ltd. and its associated entity, predominantly between April 2023 and June 2026.
“It was also revealed that Carewell Aviation Pvt. Ltd. directed a quantity of $82.96 lakh crore during 2023-26 to another newly established related entity for the purchase of Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and Agusta 109 Grand New helicopter. Quantity of $Rs 112 crore was used to make the said purchases. The directorate added in its statement: “It was also revealed that an amount of US$1.7 million as an unsecured loan was arranged in 2023 from an entity located in the Cayman Islands to purchase the aforementioned helicopter.”
It also said that the Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and the Agusta helicopter were later leased to AITC itself, although they were purchased from the AITC group.
“Subsequently, large sums of money were transferred on the pretext of using aircraft. The above suspicious arrangements are being investigated to ascertain the actual beneficial purpose of the transactions,” the agency said.
Derek O’Brien, Rajya Sabha MP and leader of the Mamata Banerjee camp, told HT on Tuesday that the allegations were politically motivated.
“Another cynically designed attack on a political rival, brazenly using every agency like a BJP branch office: ED, CBI, EC, IT and more,” he said.
