Money laundering case: ED questions Ahmed Patel again

NEWDELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigators on Tuesday began the second round of questioning of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel at his house here in connection with the Sandesara bank fraud and money laundering case probe, officials said.

A three-member team of the central agency along with few other officials reached Patel’s home in central Delhi around 10.30 am. Agency sleuths had questioned Patel, 70, for the first time for about eight hours at his residence on June 27 in this case.

The Congress Rajya Sabha MP was allowed questioning at home by the agency after he refused to visit the ED office citing prevailing Covid-19 guidelines that discourage senior citizens from going out. Officials said Patel’s statement is being recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The laundering case pertains to the alleged ~14,500 crore bank loan fraud said to have been perpetrated by Vadodara-based pharma firm Sterling Biotech and its promoters and directors-brothers Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Chetankumar Jayantilal Sandesara and Deepti Sandesara -- all of whom are absconding.

Patel, while speaking to reporters last week, had said he replied to the questions that the “guests” of the government posed. “I am surprised that instead of fighting China... coronavirus and unemployment, the government is fighting the opposition,” he had said. The law should be allowed to take its course, he had said.