In a major development in the Delhi Excise Policy case, the Enforcement Directorate’s latest chargesheet alleges that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was aware of and complicit in the use of bribe money in the Goa elections. The ED’s chargesheet included details about Arvind Kejriwal’s WhatsApp discussion with accused Vinod Chauhan.
The chargesheet also adds that K Kavitha’s PA had sent more than Rs 25 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party through Vinod during the Goa elections. The WhatsApp chat indicates that Chauhan had cordial relations with the AAP supremo.
ED has alleged that “accused number 37” Arvind Kejriwal colluded with members of the ‘South Group’ and others, including Vijay Nair, to get kickbacks of Rs 100 crore for “providing undue benefits to private entities by formulating and putting in use a tailor-made liquor policy.” According to the ED, Nair acted on behalf of Kejriwal and AAP’s other top leaders
According to the chargesheet, the AAP received Rs 45 crore of the Rs100 crore payment, which was funnelled through hawala routes for campaigning in the Goa Assembly polls. Vinod Chauhan, Kejriwal’s close aide, dealt directly with the hawala dealers and was responsible for sending Rs 25 crore for the Goa elections, the chargesheet adds.
“Relationship of Sh Vinod Chauhan with the accused Sh Arvind Kejriwal: Sh Vinod Chauhan as depicted in the flow Chart above and in the paras above handled was responsible for the transfer of Rs. 25.5 Cr from Delhi to Goa which was received from Sh Abhishek Boinpally e a representative of the South Group who also handled cash transfer in the quid pro quo arrangement. It is pertinent to note that Sh Vinod Chaughn is not an unrelated person unknown or unassociated with the AAP leaders but is very much a close associate of the accused Sh Arvind Kejriwal The examination of the digital device of SH Vinod Chauhan has revealed the chats revealing a close relationship between Sh Vinod Chauhan and Sh Arvind Kejriwal, the chargesheet accessed by IndiaTV reads.
The ED chargesheet also attached screenshots of the WhatsApp chats between Kejriwal and Vinod Chauhan. In one such chat, Chauhan said that a Patna High Court judge Rajan Gupta wanted to meet Kejriwal and sought time for the meeting. In response, Kejriwal replied, “Sure”. In another screenshot, Chauhan sent birthday wishes to Kejriwal.
Court takes cognizance of ED Chargesheet on Liquor excise policy case that alleges that key accused and jailed Vinod Chauhan, a “close associate” of Kejriwal, not only handled the transfer of ₹25.5 crore bribe money for AAP from Delhi to Goa but was “also managing postings of… pic.twitter.com/s405iYdahR
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“In this manner, Arvind Kejriwal is directly, knowingly and involved in the generation, acquisition and possession of the proceeds of crime of Rs 100 crore…Arvind Kejriwal has concealed the proceeds of crime by way of using cash transfers/Hawala transfers from the point of generation till the use. Hence, the accused Arvind Kejriwal, is actually and knowingly involved in the different processes and activities connected with the offence of money laundering, i.e. generation, acquisition, possession, concealment, transfer, use and claiming it to be untainted as defined u/s 3 of PMLA, 2002,” the chargesheet adds.
According to the ED chargesheet, Chanpreet Singh, a Chariot Productions employee, managed the money that reached Goa via hawala. Singh, who worked on the AAP’s Goa campaign as a freelancer, was paid by the party with Rs 1 lakh, IndiaToday reported.
ED also mentioned chats between Arvind Kejriwal and C Arvind, former secretary of AAP leader Manish Sisodia, to demonstrate how the CM Kejriwal allegedly attempted to mislead the probe. The probe agency also stated that a large amount of evidence was destroyed.
