india

Updated: Sep 17, 2019 18:40 IST

Meat exporter Moin Qureshi used to collect money from different individuals directly or through controversial Hyderabadi businessman - Sathish Sana Babu - “for influencing probes in the CBI”, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ED also said that it has attached a farm house in Delhi’s Chattarpur area and an old fort in Bikaner in Rajasthan among several properties worth Rs 9.35 crore belonging to Qureshi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Qureshi is being investigated for bribing CBI officials and other government officials and for laundering money through shell companies.

The agency said its investigations revealed that Qureshi was in touch with senior officer(s) of CBI. “He would collect money from different individuals either directly or through his agents such as Sathish Babu Sana to influence the cases being investigated by CBI. The proceeds of crime used to be laundered through various means such as expenditure abroad by Qureshi, his wife and their family members using money send through Hawala or expenditure on behalf of senior officers,” the ED said.

Sathish Sana Babu was a witness for ED in 2017 but in July this year, the agency arrested him alleging that he was close to Qureshi and was working for him. A special court in Delhi granted him bail in August.

Babu was at the centre of a turf war between the CBI’s former director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana last year.

The ED said another way of laundering money was investment in properties, a major part of which used to be paid in cash.

“The immovable properties are located at Delhi, Rajasthan, Dehradun and Goa. The attached properties include a farmhouse at Chhatarpur, Delhi and an Old Fort in District Bikaner of Rajasthan,” the ED said in a statement. It also said the assets were controlled by Qureshi who was released on bail last December.

“Investigation till date revealed collection of such proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 12.69 crore out of which Rs. 3.34 crore was already attached through a provisional attachment order dated September 13, 2017. Since remaining amount has either dissipated due to expenditure or can’t be trailed due to cash transactions, properties having equivalent value of Rs 9.35 Crore have been attached,” the ED said.

The agency said it had initiated investigations under PMLA following an FIR registered by CBI in New Delhi against Qureshi of AMQ Group of Companies, his employee Aditya Sharma, Pradeep Koneru of Timex Group of companies, A. P. Singh, former Director of CBI and other unknown persons and public servants.