The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is interrogating Bibhav Kumar, who serves as the personal assistant to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Durgesh Pathak has been summoned for Monday as part of the money laundering investigation related to the Delhi excise policy case.
The Enforcement Directorate is currently questioning Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar while AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak has also been summoned today in the Delhi excise policy probe: Sources
— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2024
Individuals familiar with the situation have indicated that Kumar is being questioned to provide clarifications on certain documents related to the excise probe.
Pathak has also been summoned on Monday as his name has appeared in some statements related to cash payments during Goa assembly elections. He is expected to appear at ED headquarters in the afternoon, according to an officer who preferred not to disclose their identity.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that a bribe of ₹45 crore, transferred through the hawala route from South Group, was utilized in AAP’s Goa election campaign in 2021-22. The agency refers to statements provided by Dinesh Arora, a close associate of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, as well as individuals from various companies involved in facilitating cash payments.
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Additionally, the agency has asserted that cash payments were disbursed to individuals engaged in AAP’s groundwork in Goa, including survey workers, area managers, assembly managers, among others, as per their statements. These individuals were overseen by former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair and AAP Delhi MLA Pathak.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) contends that this demonstrates the dissipation or utilization of proceeds of crime (PoC) by representatives of Manish Sisodia in the Goa polls. This assertion is supported by a statement from one of AAP’s candidates in Goa who purportedly “received funds for election expenses in cash” from AAP volunteers, as per the agency’s claims.
In the arrest of Kejriwal last month, the agency alleged that he utilized his position as the Chief Minister of Delhi to engage in money laundering activities, thereby benefiting his party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), of which he serves as the national convener. This, according to the agency, renders both Kejriwal and the party liable to be prosecuted.
The agency has classified AAP as a ‘company’ under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).\
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