AAP MLA caused wrongful loss to exchequer as Waqf Board chief: ED

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan, who was arrested by the ED on Monday and sent to four-day custody by a PMLA court, has been booked based on an FIR registered by the CBI under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act), 1988, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. The charges stem from illegalities in the appointment of Group C and Group D employees in the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB), causing a wrongful loss to the government exchequer. Additionally, he has been booked under a separate FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Delhi, under the PC Act, 1988, and IPC, 1860, for the misuse and abuse of his official position as Chairman of the Waqf Board in the allotment of tenancy of DWB properties without following proper procedures.

The ED arrested Khan under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with irregularities committed during his tenure as head of the DWB between 2016 and 2021. The agency initiated its investigation based on the aforementioned FIRs registered by the CBI and ACB. During the investigation, multiple searches were conducted on October 9, 2023, and January 2, 2024, resulting in the seizure of incriminating materials.

Further ED investigations revealed that under Khan’s directions, Zeeshan Haider and Daud Nasir managed his ill-gotten money during his tenure as DWB Chairman. They used the funds to make cash payments, through Kausar Imam Siddiqui, for the purchase of a property in Okhla, Delhi, belonging to one Jawed Imam Siddiqui. The probe also uncovered large cash deposits in the bank accounts of Jawed Imam Siddiqui and his wife, and handwritten notations by Kausar Imam Siddiqui in a seized diary, which pertain to the tainted cash transactions made on behalf of Khan for the property purchase.

During the course of PMLA investigation, 14 summons were issued to Khan. However, he appeared in response to only one summon, that too on the SC direction.

Two prosecution complaints, dated April 4 and August 17, under Section 174 of the IPC were filed by the ED against him before the Rouse Avenue Court for non-compliance to the summon proceedings. In the PMLA case also, one prosecution complaint was filed on January 9, 2024, against Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir, Kausar Imam Siddiqui and Jawed Imam Siddiqui in the special PMLA court. The court had taken cognisance of the same on January 19, 2024.