Delhi liquor scam: Kavitha's PA gave Rs 25 crore to Vinod Chauhan, claims ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday submitted that Vinod Chauhan received Rs 25 crores from the PA of BRS leader K Kavitha through Abhishek Boinpally for the Goa election, according to news agency ANI. ED's counsel said that a prosecution complaint will be filed against Vinod Chauhan by the end of this month. He was arrested in May.

The Rouse Avenue court extended the judicial custody of Vinod Chauhan till July 3. He was produced before the court through video conferencing from Tihar Jail after the expiry of their judicial custody. The court also extended the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till July 3. 

During Kejriewal's bail hearing, the ED told the Rouse Avenue Court that it had evidence of Arvind Kejriwal demanding Rs 100 crore as kickbacks. "The court's cognisance of money laundering shows that prima facie the court is convinced that a case of money laundering is made here. The CBI probe revealed that Kejriwal had demanded a bribe of Rs 100 crore. We had collected evidence even before the arrest," ASG Raju, representing the ED, said.

In May this year, the central probe agency arrested Chauhan in the Delhi excise policy-linked money-laundering case. Chauhan is accused of transferring cash funds, sourced through alleged kickbacks given by the 'South Group', for AAP's election campaign for the Goa Assembly polls of 2022. Chauhan was the 18th person to be arrested in the case. 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his party colleague and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter K Kavitha, and a number of liquor businessmen and others have been arrested by the agency. 

The ED mentioned Chauhan's alleged role in the case in an official document submitted before a court in relation to the arrest of Kavitha. "Statement of one of the staff members of K Kavitha revealed that he collected two heavy bags containing cash from accused Dinesh Arora's office on Abhishek Boinpally's directions and delivered it to Vinod Chauhan," the agency claimed. 

"On another occasion, he collected two such bags containing cash from an address near Todapur, Narayana, New Delhi, and again delivered it to Vinod Chauhan. Chauhan then transferred the same for AAP's election campaign in Goa through the hawala route," it added. 

The ED earlier charged that of the Rs 100 crore bribe money given to AAP by the 'South Group' -- of which Kavitha and some others were members -- Rs 45 crore was used for its Goa Assembly elections campaign. The 'South Group' also comprised former YSR Congress Party MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, and Aurobindo Group promoter Sarath Reddy. 

The 'South Group' was allegedly represented by Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Pillai, and Kavitha's alleged auditor Butchibabu while dealing with AAP leaders in this case, the ED has alleged.