The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out raids at properties linked to a flight charter company in and around Kolkata as part of its investigation into alleged suspicious transactions from the bank accounts of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), people aware of the developments said.
Officers at the Financial Crimes Investigation Agency, on condition of anonymity, said the transactions related to the period when the party was led by former Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee. Her party colleague said that these allegations were politically motivated.
Following the defeat at the hands of the BJP in the Assembly elections this year, a section of leaders and workers led by Ritabrata Banerjee broke away from the party, appointing their own president and claiming the party’s symbol and assets, including bank accounts.
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Police have frozen debit transactions in three of these accounts after complaints from the rebel faction searching for the source of the funds. The Mamata-led faction has challenged the freeze in court.
The officers mentioned above did not reveal which bank the accounts being investigated were kept or whether they were the same accounts that were frozen.
They said the raids targeted places linked to Carewell Aviation India Pvt Ltd and its directors, as well as an election fund. Initial investigations revealed that “the money is estimated at approximately $Rs 160 crore was transferred from AITC accounts to Carewell Aviation India Pvt Ltd and its associated entity, initially between April 2023 and June 2026.” A Carewell Aviation official added, “It also directed an amount of $82.96 lakh crore between 2023 and 2026 to another newly established related entity.
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A second officer said Tuesday’s searches revealed that “a large sum traveled to a Carewell Aviation-related entity to purchase one Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and one Agusta 109 SP helicopter.”
“amount $He added that Rs 112 crore was used to make the said purchases.
The directorate’s investigation also revealed, according to the second officer, that “some foreign funding was also used to purchase the Agusta helicopter. However, most of the money was obtained directly from AITC accounts.” “The Legacy 600 Embraer aircraft and Agusta helicopters were leased to AITC itself, though they were purchased from the AITC group. Subsequently, large sums of money were transferred on the pretext of using the aircraft. The entire arrangement appears highly questionable and appears designed to camouflage the actual beneficial purpose of the transactions, which is currently under investigation,” the officer added.
Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, a leader in Mamata Banerjee’s camp, said 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.
Carwell Aviation’s website says it specializes in a range of solutions including private jet charters, aircraft management, aircraft sales and acquisitions, aircraft leasing and consultancy.
Calls made by Hizb ut-Tahrir to the numbers available on its website remained unanswered.
