The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed before the Delhi High Court that arrested AAP MP Sanjay Singh was involved in creating a special purpose vehicle to launder "proceeds of crime" generated by the business resulting from changes in Delhi excise policy, news agency PTI reported on Tuesday citing an affidavit filed by the central probe agency in response to Singh's bail application in the case.
Singh was arrested in connection with a money laundering investigation involving the Delhi excise policy'scam'.
The ED claimed that Singh was involved in acquiring, possessing, concealing, dissipating, and using proceeds of crime from the Delhi liquor scam during the policy period of 2021–2022.
The ED's allegations were made in an affidavit filed in response to Singh's bail application in the money laundering case.
The Rajya Sabha member, who was arrested by the ED on October 4 of last year, has challenged a trial court's December 22 decision to dismiss his bail plea in the money laundering case.
The case was heard by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Tuesday. It has been rescheduled for Wednesday due to the absence of ED's counsel.
According to the PTI report, the probe agency revealed in its affidavit that Singh is a key conspirator in the alleged scam and is closely associated with a number of accused or suspects in this case, including businessmen Dinesh Arora and Amit Arora.
"... it is evident that Sanjay Singh was involved in the formation of a special purpose vehicle (M/s Aralias Hospitality Pvt Ltd) to launder the proceeds of crime that would have been generated by the business resulting from the policy changes as conspired by him and his co-conspirators. Furthermore, Sanjay Singh was involved in acquiring, possessing, concealing, dissipating, and using proceeds of crime generated by the Delhi liquor scam during the policy period of 2021-22', it stated.
The agency also claimed that the AAP leader received illegal money or kickbacks as proceeds of crime from the spirits policy (2021-22) scam, and that he participated in a conspiracy alongside others.
The investigation revealed that Singh received Rs 2 crore in proceeds of crime, according to the ED.
It stated that Singh was in possession of certain confidential documents related to the investigation of this case that are not in the public domain.
Certain confidential documents, including prints of images taken in the ED office and obtained illegally, were recovered during the search of his premises on October 4, 2023, according to the report.
Senior advocate Mohit Mathur, representing Singh, argued that Singh had been in custody for three months without any attribution of a role in the predicate offence. Singh's arrest, according to Mathur, was based on the statement of the ED's "star witness".
The ED alleges that Singh played a key role in formulating and implementing the now-scrapped excise policy, purportedly benefiting specific liquor entities for financial gain. The trial court, affirming Singh's connection to the "proceeds of crime to the extent of Rs 2 crore," deemed the case against him genuine.
The case revolves around alleged corruption in formulating and executing the city government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was subsequently annulled. Following a recommendation by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, the CBI registered an FIR, leading to the investigation of corruption charges. The trial court noted that the ED's "basic case" was approved by the Supreme Court, which endorsed that bribes or kickbacks were involved in formulating Delhi's excise policy for 2021-22. Singh's argument that he was not named in the main FIR by the CBI was rejected by the trial court. The case is now scheduled for hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Wednesday due to the unavailability of the ED's counsel.