The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is preparing to file a charge sheet against influential meat exporter Moin Qureshi, who was arrested by the agency in August on money-laundering charges.
The agency has alleged that records collected from the Income Tax Department, as well as his Blackberry Messaging chat data of 2011, 2012 and 2013, revealed that Qureshi, a childhood friend of former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director A.P. Singh, took huge amounts of money from different people for obtaining undue favours from public servants or politicians holding high office.
The ED has recorded statements of some persons who disclosed having given money to Qureshi. A Hyderabad-based businessman alleged that he and his friend had paid about ₹1.75 crore in connection with a case pursued by a Central probe agency. Aditya Sharma, an employee of Qureshi, was allegedly involved in money collection.
Hawala deals
The agency alleges that Qureshi routed “bribe money” abroad through some Delhi-based hawala operators. The funds under scrutiny were transferred to Dubai, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Italy, Switzerland and the United States. Details of his assets in India and overseas have also been gathered. He allegedly has three flats in Dubai, including one in the ‘megatall skyscraper’ Burj Khalifa; two flats in London; and one each in New York and Singapore.
The money laundering probe is based on an FIR registered by the CBI against Qureshi of the AMQ Group; former CBI chief A.P. Singh; Trimax Group owner Pradeep Koneru, a resident of Hyderabad; and Aditya Sharma.
The FIR was filed on the information provided by the Directorate, which was gathered during a probe under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
During the FEMA probe against Qureshi and the AMQ group, the ED also found that he, through his company India Premier Services Pvt. Ltd, had applied for a concession agreement from the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) for running lounge services at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The BBM messages and interceptions indicated that some government officials close to him and those dealing with the matter were allegedly providing information to him on file movements.
“Some conversations have reference to the facilitation money changing hands,” said the ED note to the CBI.
