Kejriwal, friends hid donations, says Kapil Mishra

NEW DELHI: After building up suspense for over two days about a purported “mega expose” against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party, sacked minister Kapil Mishra alleged on Sunday that people close to Kejriwal had funnelled crores of unaccounted money into party coffers through shell companies and donors.“The shell companies were formed by people close to Kejriwal to channel black money into AAP’s accounts and hawala transactions, and the AAP-led government awarded those companies with contracts and bestowed favours on people involved,” said Mishra, who is on an indefinite hunger strike. TOI could not independently verify Mishra’s allegations.In response, AAP’s Sanjay Singh claimed that BJP had connived with Mishra to get AAP derecognised and defame Kejriwal. Singh rejected all the allegations, saying Mishra was parroting what BJP had been alleging earlier and that the process of receiving donations in AAP was transparent and above board.AAP’s Sanjay Singh on Sunday dared the central government to either take action against the party or concede that the allegations were false.Earlier, at a dramatic pess conference, sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra sought Kejriwal’s resignation by evening “if he had any grace left”, but fainted as soon as he concluded his press conference, just when reporters were getting ready to ask him questions and scrutinise his so-called disclosures. “If you do not resign by this evening, I swear I will catch you by your collar and drag you to Tihar from your chair,” said Mishra. Raising his voice, he said, “Bharat Mata ki jai!” He then collapsed and was taken away to hospital.A room at Mishra’s Civil Lines residence was crammed with reporters and cops deployed in multiple rings. Bundles of documents on the table and a large projector created a mood of anticipation.His first allegation was a repeat of what has been in the public domain for some time. He alleged that in 2013-14, Rs 36 crore received in donations by AAP was not revealed to Election Commission . “AAP had Rs 45.74 crore in its accounts but disclosed only Rs 9.42 crore. AAP declared on its website it had only Rs 19.82 crore,” he claimed. In the next financial year, 2014-15, he said: “The party had Rs 65.52 crore in its accounts but declared only Rs 32.46 crore to EC, and on its website it declared that it had only Rs 27.48 crore.”“Kejriwal was very angry during demonetisation because money laundering through party and shell companies was at stake,” he alleged. He claimed that several of these fake companies had accounts in the Krishna Nagar branch of Axis Bank which had been raided. He was aided by a friend, Neil, who claimed to be a former AAP member, during the press conference which lasted for over 50 minutes.Mishra alleged that 189 shell companies registered at the same address in Jasola, besides eight foreign shell companies, gave crores to AAP. He also alleged that two AAP MLAs were associated with the companies which transferred funds to AAP. He alleged that one AAP supporter from Bangalore donated Rs 90 lakh to AAP while she filed an income tax return of only Rs 4,000. He claimed that AAP had illegally received Rs 70 crore.“Of 16 shell companies that have donated to AAP, the registered addresses of four directors of four companies are the same. There is a connection between the foreign travels of AAP’s senior functionaries and receipt of donations by AAP. The day Kejriwal discloses his party functionaries’ foreign travel details, the illegal foreign funding will also be exposed,” he said, without explaining, elaborating or giving any proof.Mishra alleged that in the name of four fake companies, Rs 2 crore (Rs 50 lakh by each company) was given to AAP through hawala transactions on the midnight of April 5, 2014. “AAP is being used to turn crores of black money into white money. Through 461 bogus entries in AAP accounts, Rs 6.26 crore was deposited in 2014-15. There was only one chartered accountant for many of these shell companies. This chartered accountant was arrested for fraud by Enforcement Directorate ,” he alleged.Mishra showed two undated cheques of Rs 35 crore each and claimed they were given to AAP as donations. “The cheques were, however, not cleared,” said Neil. “These cheques were given by the same shell companies which donated Rs 2 crore in AAP’s accounts at midnight,” Mishra said. No evidence was given to prove the authenticity of this claim.“I will go to CBI office on Monday to register an FIR with this evidence,” said Mishra.