A Delhi court on Tuesday sent Vinesh Chandel, director of political consultancy firm I-PAC, to 10-day remand by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe, stating that there were reasons to believe that he was actively involved in generating, transferring and possessing millions of illicit funds related to the company.
In a 24-page order, Additional Sessions Judge Shefali Barnala Tandon of Patiala House Courts agreed with the ED that Chandel’s custody was required to unearth additional proceeds of crime and establish the entire modus operandi related to the crime, including beneficiaries and other accomplices.
Chandel was produced in court at 11pm on Monday and the proceedings continued for two hours until 1am on Tuesday. Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa was representing Chandel and special public prosecutor Simon Benjamin appeared for the ED.
The court said Chandel used hawala channels to transfer money produced by the company and “allowed the use of unaccounted cash and informal transfers outside the banking system.” It noted that he made false statements under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by denying the existence of cash transactions and misrepresenting that the company deals exclusively with political parties.
“…where the investigation revealed transactions with multiple offshore entities without any legitimate business purpose, thereby intentionally misleading the investigation,” the court said.
The court confirmed that Chandel had instructed emails and sensitive data to be deleted from key employees’ accounts immediately after the emergency department’s searches in January. “By doing so, the detainee deliberately attempted to destroy physical evidence and obstruct the course of the investigation… The detainee knowingly, directly or indirectly, assisted and actively participated in the operation and activity associated with the proceeds of crime, including the concealment, possession, acquisition, use and display as untainted property,” the court said.
The court said that the accused was evading during the investigation and might tamper with the evidence, which is why interrogating him while in prison became necessary.
Pahwa said the arrest was politically motivated in view of the elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and that Chandel cooperated with the summons of the ED.
Chandel was arrested in a case of illegal coal mining and transportation in West Bengal. Erectile dysfunction has been claimed to be around $Rs 20 crore proceeds of crime generated from mining were transferred through hawala channels to I-PAC.
Chandel was arrested more than a week after the ED raided his residence and that of another I-PAC director, Rishi Raj Singh, and former Aam Aadmi Party communications officer, Vijay Nair, on April 2.
In January, the ED accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of obstructing inspections and removing evidence when the agency raided the I-PAC office and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain. Banerjee alleged that the ED tried to seize election-related documents from I-PAC ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. I-PAC works with the Trinamool Congress.
I-PAC said in January that its role was limited to transparent and professional political advice, free from the influence of political ideology.
