New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money-laundering probe of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has allegedly found transactions to an aircraft leasing and management firm amounting to more than Rs 100 crore over three years, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the agency said the investigation revealed that the firm, Carewell Aviation India, purchased an Embraer aircraft and an Agusta helicopter at a cost of around Rs 112 crore using funds transferred by the TMC, while leasing them out to the party on a rental basis.
The probe agency had initiated a money-laundering probe following a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the West Bengal Police, based on a complaint from Biswanath Das, the Trinamool legislator from the Joynagar Assembly constituency. Das had joined the rebel camp of the party led by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee.
Hours after the FIR, the Bidhanagar Police Commissionerate ordered freezing of TMC bank accounts, prompting party chief and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee to approach the Calcutta High Court for a reversal.
The searches at five premises related to the Carewell Group of Companies and the simultaneous examination of Trinamool bank accounts are the first such investigation into any political party by the ED.
According to the sources, funds amounting to Rs 160 crore were transferred from Trinamool accounts to Carewell Aviation India and a related entity, tentatively between April 2023 and June 2026. “Carewell Aviation Pvt Ltd further routed an amount of Rs 82.96 crore (2023–2026) to another newly incorporated related entity,” an ED official told ThePrint.
The probe revealed that a significant amount was spent on a related entity of Carewell Aviation India Pvt Ltd for the purchase of an Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and one Agusta 109 SP helicopter.
“An amount of Rs 112 crore was used for making the purchases,” the ED official said. “These Legacy 600 Embraer aircraft and Agusta helicopter were rented out to the Trinamool itself, even though they were purchased from party’s corpus. Thereafter, substantial amounts were transferred on the pretext of aircraft usage. The entire arrangement appears highly dubious and seems designed to camouflage the actual beneficial purpose of the transactions, which is under investigation.”
ThePrint reached TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh via WhatsApp messages and calls for his comment on the ED findings and related allegations. Thus article report will be updated if and when he responds.
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Bank accounts case
The investigation began with the complaint filed by Das before the Cyber Crime Police station in Bidhanagar Police last month, alleging “generation, routing, and possible concealment of funds through electronic and banking channels”. In the police complaint that was made part of the FIR, Das alleged that funds allegedly arising out of illegal activities, including misuse of influence, dishonest financial dealings, and suspected unlawful collection of money, may have been routed and subsequently deposited into three Kolkata-based accounts.
“The pattern of such suspected financial movement gives rise to a reasonable apprehension that electronic communication systems, digital platforms, and online banking mechanisms may have been used to facilitate the transfer and possible concealment of such proceeds,” Das alleged in the complaint.
“Although the complete details regarding the source of funds, identity of all persons involved, and the exact transactional chain are not presently within my direct knowledge, the circumstances clearly indicate that the matter requires immediate and thorough investigation to ascertain the origin, movement, and destination of the said funds.”
Based on the complaint, the Bidhanagar Police lodged an FIR under various sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Mamata moved the High Court, arguing that funds amounting to Rs 440 crore were frozen in the three bank accounts, and sought reversal of the freeze imposed by the police.
Hearing the matter last week, the Calcutta High Court questioned the “haste” with which the police froze the bank accounts and asked the bank manager of the HDFC Bank branch housing these accounts to file an affidavit detailing the corpus in the accounts. The police was also asked to submit the police complaint leading to the registration of FIR and freezing of accounts.
On Tuesday, the High Court deferred hearing of the matter by a day.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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