Raghav Chadha's name figures in ED excise scam chargesheet

New Delhi, May 2

Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha’s name has figured in the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

• Arava Gopi Krishna, then Excise Commissioner (CBI chargesheet)
• Kuldeep Singh, then Deputy Excise Commissioner (CBI)
• Narender Singh, then Assistant Excise Commissioner (CBI)
• Abhishek Boinpally, Hyderabad-based businessman (CBI-ED)
• Buchi Babu, BRS leader
• K Kavitha’s ex-CA (CBI-ED)
• Rajesh Joshi, owner of Chariot Media Production Pvt Ltd (ED)
• Sameer Mahendru, liquor trader
• Sanjay Singh, AAP RS MP (ED)

Filed in a Delhi court, the chargesheet mentioned that AAP, in power in Punjab and Delhi, allegdely routed part of the Rs 100 crore “kickbacks” it received from a “south group” liquor lobby to fund its campaign for the 2022 Assembly elections in Goa.

Chadha has not been named as an accused, but his name is alleged to have been mentioned by former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s secretary C Arvind in the statement he gave to the ED. “A meeting was held at the Deputy CM’s (Sisodia’s) residence and it was attended by Raghav Chadha, Punjab Excise Commissioner Varun Roojam and Vijay Nair (a businessman and AAP communications in-charge),” the ED said citing Arvind’s statement.

Refuting the charges, Chadha said he had not been named as an accused in the complaint filed by the ED, and that news reports in this context were “factually wrong and appeared to be part of a propaganda to harm his reputation and credibility”. “There are no allegations against me in the said complaint. It appears that in the complaint, my name is mentioned as an attendee to some meeting, though the basis of making such an allegation is not clear,” he said in a statement.

The supplementary chargesheet has arraigned as accused a media publicity company, Chariot Productions Media Private Limited, and its owner-promoter Rajesh Joshi. A special Delhi court took cognisance of the chargesheet on Monday.

“Several persons, including Rajesh Joshi and his company Chariot Productions Media Private Limited, are actually involved in several activities connected with a part of proceeds of crime, i.e. the kickbacks of Rs 100 crore received from the “south group”… Chariot Productions is not only involved in making payments through banking channel, but also in cash through hawala… the actual beneficiary of these payments is AAP as these payments were used for meeting the expenditure of the 2022 Goa elections,” the ED said.

Rs 100 cr ‘kickbacks’

The ED and the CBI allege that AAP received Rs 100 crore kickbacks from a “south group” liquor lobby and routed a part of it to fund the party’s campaign in the 2022 Goa poll

The ED also alleged that its probe under the provisions of the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMLA) had found that “a part of the proceeds of crime of Rs 30 crore was transferred through hawala network to make payments to vendors for advertisement in Goa election campaign of AAP”. “All these transactions are inter-connected, which represent the utilisation of proceeds of crime of Rs 100 crore through multiple processes… ultimately, all the money was used by AAP leaders, including ministers and their associates in the government, who were the architects of the liquor scam,” the ED alleged. The AAP has denied the allegations as “vendetta politics”.