Amanatullah Khan took public funds meant for victims of Delhi riots: ED | Latest news from India

New Delhi MLA Amanatullah Khan opened an “unauthorised” bank account to collect funds for victims of the Delhi riots and some of that public money was withdrawn in cash and transferred to him, the ED said on Wednesday after it filed charges against him.

The federal investigation agency on Tuesday filed a supplementary complaint against the lawmaker and his second wife Maryam Siddiqui in a special anti-money laundering court in Delhi.

The hearing of the case is scheduled for November 4.

The ED’s money laundering case relates to alleged irregularities committed during Khan’s tenure as chairman of Delhi Waqf from 2016 to 2021. The 50-year-old MLA represents the Okhla seat in the Delhi Assembly.

The agency also accused Khan of failing to disclose “full details” of dependents in his campaign affidavit.

“Amanatullah Khan, without obtaining any permission from the Delhi Waqf Board, established the ‘Delhi Waqf Board Relief Committee’.

“To receive funds in the name of the victims of the Delhi riots, Khan opened an unauthorized bank account in the name of the Delhi Waqf Relief Committee and some of the funds received from the public were withdrawn in cash on Khan’s instructions and transferred to him,” it said. agency

Riots in Delhi took place in February 2020.

Khan, according to the ED, did not provide “full details of his dependents” in the election affidavit filed by him.

“Maryam Siddiqui was married to Amanatullah Khan and is a full dependent of Amanatullah Khan. It should be noted that she does not have any known source of income and did not submit any income declarations,” the message reads.

The investigation revealed, according to the ED, immovable property worth ₹19 lakhs was purchased by Khan in 2020 “in the name of his second wife Smt Maryam Siddiqui and payment for the same was made partly in cash and partly from an amount received from his close associate Zeeshan Haider”.

The agency alleged that Khan, along with his accomplices such as Haider and Dawood Nasir, “managed” the MLA’s “ill-gotten money” during his tenure as chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board and used it to make “cash payments” through Kausar Imam Siddiqui for acquisition of property at 275-276, TTI Tikona Park in Okhla area. This property belonged to Javid Imam Siddiqui.

He claimed that the recovered white diary, “handwritten” by Kausar Imam Siddiqui, showed that cash payments of Rs. ₹27 crore was made by Khan’s close associates to acquire this property in Tikona Park.

The ED said it had found “large amounts of suspicious cash deposits” in the bank accounts of shopkeeper Jaoud Imam Siddiqui and his wife.

Khan, Haider, Dawood Naseer, Kausar Imam Siddiqui and Javed Imam Siddiqui were arrested in this case by the ED and they are currently lodged in the jail.

The first chargesheet in the case against all these accused except Khan was filed by the ED in January.

The money-laundering probe against Khan is linked to two FIRs – a Central Bureau of Investigation case into alleged irregularities in the Wakf Board and a case of alleged disproportionate assets registered by the Delhi Police’s anti-corruption wing.

This article was generated from an automated feed of news agencies without changes to the text.