Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids in Delhi and Saharanpur on Wednesday in connection with its money-laundering probe against former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLC of Uttar Pradesh Mohammad Iqbal, officials said. “Incriminating documents and electronic equipment were seized from the premises,” they said, even as the searches are continuing.
The searches were carried out by the Lucknow zone of the agency at five premises of the AMB Buildprop Private Limited — a firm linked to the former Member of Legislative Council (MLC) of Uttar Pradesh — in Delhi and Saharanpur under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had filed a money-laundering case against Iqbal and others after taking cognizance of a criminal complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with illegal sand-mining and sale of sugar mills.
ED officials said their probe in the case found that the ex-MLC and his family members “have more than 110 companies and most of these are shell companies having no business activities”. “It was also found that the funds generated through illegal mining were laundered with the help of many accommodation entry (hawala) operators, chartered accountants and a huge conglomerate of shell companies having dummy directors, with numerous bank accounts set up,” the agency said.
The funds were ultimately used for acquisition of huge assets and closed sugar mills, it added. The Supreme Court had, in 2016, directed the CBI to conduct a probe against Iqbal after a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed before it, alleging that the former legislator was indulging in corruption and money laundering.
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