Cash-for-votes case: Accused held from Gujarat sent to ED custody till November 29

The accused was detained on Wednesday by the immigration authorities at the Ahmedabad airport on the basis of a lookout circular issued by ED.

A special court in Mumbai on Friday remanded an accused arrested in the cash-for-votes case to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till November 29, news agency PTI reported.

The probe agency told the court that the accused, Nagani Akram Mohammad Shafi, was the "mastermind" who opened 14 bank accounts in a cooperative bank and transferred money worth Rs 100 crore to the accounts of shell companies with the help of hawala transactions.

Shafi was detained on Wednesday by the immigration authorities at the Ahmedabad airport on the basis of a lookout circular (LOC) issued by the central agency.

According to officials, he was trying to flee to Dubai. Shafi was later arrested by ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), reported PTI.

Shafi was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court which remanded him in the custody of the probe agency.

Judge AC Daga noted that a "prima-facie case is made out showing his [Shafi's] involvement in the crime".

Malegaon-based trader was booked in cash-for-votes case

Considering the magnitude of the offence, in case the custody of accused is not granted to ED, then the probe agency "will not be in a position to find out end user of the funds, will not be in a position to recover the funds and will not be in a position to reach the co-accused", the court said, according to PTI.

The central agency conducted searches in poll-bound Maharashtra and Gujarat last week in the cash-for-votes case registered against a Malegaon-based trader, Siraj Ahmed Harun Meman, who allegedly misused bank accounts of various people to carry out transactions worth more than Rs 100 crore.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya had flagged these transactions, calling it a case of "vote jihad scam" wherein cash was allegedly given to the electorate in exchange for their votes in the Maharashtra Assembly polls. The polling for the 288-member assembly was held on Wednesday.

The money laundering case stems from a first information report (FIR) filed by the Malegaon Police on November 7 against Meman - who runs a tea and cold drinks agency - and some of his associates.

The complainant in the case is a Malegaon-based man named Jayes Lotan Misal, whose bank account was allegedly misused for illegal transactions, triggering speculation that the accounts were used for routing election funds, PTI reported.

ED told the court that Shafi was the mastermind behind opening of the 14 bank accounts with Meman in the Nasik Merchants Cooperative Bank with the help of another accused, Siraj Ahmad.

Further, with the help of hawala transactions, Shafi transferred the amount to shell companies and then to various bank accounts, the probe agency said, adding that the investigation has revealed that the scrutiny of documents pertaining to the 14 accounts shows that the majority of the credits amounting to more than Rs 118.40 crore were transferred from the accounts of around 200 firms within a span of one to two months only.

Similarly, the amounts so credited in these accounts were immediately transferred to several accounts maintained in the name of various entities, it said and added that Shafi is involved in the criminal act of money laundering and has been found to be indulged directly in the acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime worth Rs 8.66 crore identified so far.

It added that the accused has knowingly assisted in layering and laundering of the money.

(With PTI inputs)