ED quizzes Patel in PMLA case; Congress slams govt
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday questioned senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel for his purported links with the Sandesara brothers of the Sterling Biotech group, who fled the country in 2017 after defrauding several banks of several thousand crore rupees, officials said.
The officials, who requested anonymity, said Patel, 70, who was political secretary to Sonia Gandhi when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power between 2004 and 2014, was questioned at his residence— 23, Mother Teresa Crescent — in Delhi by a three-member ED team.
He was earlier summoned for questioning, but cited Covid-19 guidelines and expressed his inability to visit the agency.
The health ministry had issued an advisory for citizens above 65 years to stay at home to protect themselves against the coronavirus pandemic.
Patel, who was supposed to appear at the ED office on June 8, had also pointed out that cases of the disease had surfaced in the agency, which told him that its officers were willing to visit his home because taking the probe forward in the case was important.
The Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from Gujarat, officials said, was asked questions about his links with Nitin and Chetan Sandesara and claims made by certain witnesses.
An employee of the Sandesara Group – Sunil Yadav – had claimed before the ED he ran up expenses of ~10 lakh for a party which was attended by Faisal Patel, son of Ahmed Patel, arranged entry in a night club for him (Faisal Patel) and once delivered ~5 lakh to his (Faisal Patel’s) driver in Khan Market on the instructions of Chetan Sandesara, officials said.