Maharashtra 'cash-for-votes' case: ED arrests man from Ahmedabad airport

Mumbai, Nov 20 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested a man in a Maharashtra cash-for-votes case-linked money laundering investigation after he was intercepted at the Ahmedabad international airport, official sources said.

Nagani Akram Mohammad Shafi was first detained by immigration authorities at the airport in neighbouring Gujarat on the basis of a lookout circular (LOC) issued by the ED. He was "trying to flee" to Dubai, they said.

The man has been arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

The central agency conducted searches in poll-bound Maharashtra and Gujarat last week in the case registered against a Malegaon-based trader, Siraj Ahmed Harun Meman, who allegedly misused bank accounts of various people to carry out transactions worth more than Rs 100 crore.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had flagged these transactions calling it a case of "vote jihad scam" wherein cash was allegedly given to voters in exchange for their votes in the assembly polls. Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly was held on Wednesday.

The money laundering case stems from a November 7 Malegaon Police FIR filed against Meman, who runs a tea and cold drinks agency, and some of his associates.

The complainant in the case is a Malegaon-based man named Jayes Lotan Misal whose bank account was allegedly misused for illegal transactions, triggering speculation that the accounts were used for routing election funds.

Shafi, according to the sources, was among those persons on whose instructions Meman opened over a dozen bank accounts in the Nashik Merchant Cooperative Bank and also allegedly transferred funds worth Rs 14 crore through hawala.

It is alleged that Meman took KYC details (PAN, Aadhaar etc.) of about a dozen people to open bank accounts and told them that he wanted to start a corn business and hence needed to take money from farmers.

The accused allegedly opened two more accounts taking KYC documents from his friends. These 14 accounts were opened between September and October this year, according to the sources.

The ED has found debit and credit entries worth more than Rs 100 crore in each of these accounts.

More than 2,500 transactions and around 170 bank branches spread across states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha and West Bengal are under the scanner of the ED as funds have either been deposited or withdrawn from these accounts, according to the sources.

The agency suspects that the accused may have been using these 'mule' accounts to divert and route funds for some people and companies for money laundering and hawala trade by misusing the banking credentials of common people.

The angle of misuse of accounts for electoral malpractice is also being looked into by the ED, the sources said.

However, no such inputs have been gathered so far, they said. PTI