New Delhi: Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) cofounder and director Vinesh Kumar Chandel devised a mechanism to accept only part of consultancy fee in cheque, enabling the use of the unaccounted cash in poll expenditure, including influencing public opinion, according to the Enforcement Directorate.
The central probe agency made the allegations before Delhi special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) judge Shefali Barnala Tandon. Chandel was produced before the judge at her residence in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, hours after his arrest.
The agency also accused him of falsifying account books to fraudulently recoup Rs 13.50 crore from a firm through a sham agreement disguised as unsecured, interest-free loans between 2019 and 2021. Chandel was sent into the agency’s custody for 10 days.
Chandel’s arrest marks a fresh development in the agency’s crackdown on the political consultancy firm that provides services to the All India Trinamool Congress, which rules West Bengal.
Earlier, in January this year, the agency had raided the residential premises of another I-PAC director, Pratik Jain, and the firm’s official premises in Kolkata, leading to a showdown between the agency officials and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Those searches were conducted as part of the probe into alleged coal pilferage and illegal transportation of coal from areas under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Coalfield Limited in West Bengal by a syndicate led by strongman Anup Majee alias Lala.
The case was based on a 2020 Central Bureau of Investigation case, and the ED alleged that I-PAC had received Rs 20 crore from the coal syndicate and that these funds were transferred through hawala channels to Goa between 2021 and 2022.
The latest money laundering case stems from a fresh FIR filed by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing, alleging that the directors of I-PAC hatched a conspiracy, falsified accounts, and handled unaccounted funds.
They were booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 477A (falsification of accounts), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, on the basis of which the agency initiated an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on 28 March.
With Chandel’s arrest coming amidst the ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal, it has also sparked strong reaction from the TMC. Its General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee termed the arrest as an erosion of the level-playing field for political parties, and an act of intimidation.
The arrest of Vinesh Chandel, co-founder of I-PAC, barely 10 days before the Bengal elections, is not just alarming- It shakes the very idea of a level playing field.
At a time when WB should be moving toward free and fair elections, this kind of action sends a chilling message:…
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) April 13, 2026
‘Founding director & decision-maker’
Appearing for the federal agency before the judge at her residence in the wee hours of Tuesday, Special Public Prosecutor Simon Benjamin alleged that the I-PAC directors such as Chandel, Rishi Raj Singh and others, were actively engaged in “generation, concealment and laundering of proceeds of crime through a structured mechanism of financial transactions”.
“Vinesh Kumar Chandel, being a Founding Director and key decision-maker, exercised control over the financial and operational affairs of the company and was actively involved in the processes leading to the generation of Proceeds of Crime (PoC),” the SPP further argued before the court, according to the order of the remand passed by the special judge Tandon.
To establish Chandel’s ownership and decision-making authority, the ED alleged that he had been a founding member of the consultancy firm, set up in 2015, and is an equal shareholder with the other two directors.
“The company, under his direction, adopted a modus operandi of splitting receipts between accounted (banking channels) and unaccounted (cash/non-banking channels) modes, thereby deliberately suppressing the true nature and extent of its financial activities. Documentary evidence, including seized records and statements, clearly demonstrates that such bifurcation was systematic and intentional,” the agency submitted in its remand application.
Regarding the alleged inflow of funds amounting to Rs 13.50 crore from Ramasethu Infrastructure, the agency alleged that the funds were transferred in the form of an unsecured, interest-free loan.
The agency further alleged that the transaction was nothing but a sham exchange because it was carried out neither for any commercial rationale nor under any loan agreement, collateral security, or set repayment terms.
Moreover, the firm was neither a bank nor a non-banking financial company (NBFC), the agency further argued.
“The absence of collateral, loan agreement, repayment terms, or due diligence clearly establishes that the transaction was a sham designed to introduce unaccounted funds into the books of the company,” the agency alleged in the remand application.
“His attempt to attribute the arrangement of such a loan to third parties, including persons having no official association with the company, reflects a deliberate effort to distance himself from the transaction and conceal his involvement,” it further alleged.
Moreover, the agency claimed in court that the arrangement was made through individuals not “formally associated” with the company and that the decisions were taken on their instructions.
Appearing for Chandel, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa argued that the agency’s action reeks of a biased probe, given that it took place against the backdrop of looming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
He also argued that even if the agency’s arguments about falsifying records and cash dealings are taken into account, the case comes under the purview of the Income Tax Act, which is not part of the scheduled offences necessary for initiation of a money laundering case.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)