ED QUIZZES CONG LEADER PATEL FOR 3RD TIME IN PMLA CASE

NEW DELHI: A team of enforcement directorate (ED) officers on Thursday questioned Congress leader Ahmed Patel for the third time in connection with its money laundering probe into the Sterling Biotech group, officials familiar with development said.

Patel was questioned for alleged links with the firm’s owners, the Sandesara brothers, who fled the country in 2017 after allegedly swindling several banks of several thousand crore rupees.

The agency has questioned the senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP twice already after coming across new facts in the case, the officials cited above said on condition of anonymity. They added that Patel’s statement was being recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Sandesaras are being probed by multiple agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax department. The money laundering case is connected to an alleged Rs 14,500 crore bank loan fraud perpetrated by the Vadodara-based pharma firm and its main promoters.

The Congress contended the probe into Patel was an attempt to “browbeat” the Opposition.

“Frustration and political vendetta is writ large. It is traceable direct link from the Prime Minister and the home minister and the Gujarat connection to the Congress and Mr Ahmed Patel. It is clear that a slap in the face of illegal, reprehensible, manipulative activities in Gujarat elections has not yet been digested by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national and Gujarat leadership,” party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha said: “Institutions work based on rule of law . In democracy probe agencies enjoy autonomy and one should avoid denigrating them. To be in opposition does not mean immunity from everything. This allegation is ridiculous and baseless.”