A Delhi court remanded Vinesh Chandel of Indian Political Action Committee to 10-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. He was produced at a judge’s residence Monday night, with the order issued early Tuesday.
A Delhi court remanded Vinesh Chandel, director of the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody for 10 days in a money laundering case.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Shefali Barnala Tandon of the Patiala House Court issued the remand order.
Chandel was arrested by the ED late Monday night and was produced before the court. The hearing went on into the early hours of Tuesday, after which the judge ordered that he be taken into the ED’s custody.
The ED said Chandel is a founder of PAC Consulting Private Limited and holds a 33% stake, adding that he is being investigated in a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The case follows a First Information Report (FIR) registered by Delhi Police.
Earlier, the ED had raided the office of I-PAC in Kolkata’s Salt Lake, which led to a tense standoff with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
According to the ED, its probe has found several instances of financial irregularities linked to the company.
These allegedly include receipt of both accounted and unaccounted funds, unsecured loans without a valid business basis, creation of bogus invoices, and transfer of funds through third parties.
The ED has also alleged that domestic and international hawala channels were used to move cash.
The ED has said,
“Investigation has further revealed that Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd was involved in laundering proceeds of crime to the tune of multiple crores. The amount detected so far is about Rs.50 Crore,”