ED arrested Rohit Tandon's aide in money laundering case
New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has arrested a Delhi-based businessman, a close aide of lawyer Rohit Tandon, for converting demonetised currency notes worth Rs 51 crore.
Yogesh Mittal was arrested in connection with the ED's ongoing probe into the money laundering case.
According to the financial investigative agency, Mittal was arrested on Monday evening from Model Town area of north Delhi on charges of money laundering for his alleged role in the illegal conversion of demonetised currency during the demonetization drive.
The agency, in a statement, said Mittal in connivance with Tandon, Ashish Kumar, a former Kotak Mahindra Bank manager, Raj Kumar Goel, entry operator, and others converted Rs 51 crore worth of demonetised currency notes.
"During the investigation, it was revealed that Mittal was instrumental in picking up Tandon's demonetised cash during November 11-19 last year at various places in the evening and night and deposited in various bank accounts of shell companies," the agency said.
Explaining the modus operandi of Mittal, the agency said: "The arrested accused collected and deposited the cash in various accounts of the firms with huge cash in hand. And then from those accounts, demand drafts in fictitious names would be issued."
"And later, these demand drafts would be cancelled to get the money back into the accounts, thus converting the demonetised notes," the agency said.
According to the investigating agency, the demand drafts were issued in connivance with the former Kotak Mahindra Bank manager in lieu of huge commission of 35 per cent.
This is the fourth arrest in this case by the agency. The agency had earlier arrested Tandon, former Kotak Mahindra Bank manager Ashish Kumar and Goel for their alleged involvement in the case.
On May 30, the agency had raided the premises of Mittal and an ex- Congress MLA Rajesh Jain in the national capital to collect more evidence.
The government had spiked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016.
The ED had registered a case against Tandon, Ashish Kumar and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of the case registered by Delhi Police Crime Branch.
