Kerala businessman 'fails' to provide evidence in ED bribery case: sources

New Delhi: A Kerala businessman who recently accused an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer of corruption has recorded his statement with the central agency, denying any knowledge or evidence against the investigator, according to official sources on Sunday.

Aneesh Babu, the businessman, appeared before the ED in Delhi on June 6, where his statement was documented through an audio-visual camera, in compliance with Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Under the anti-money laundering law, such statements are legally admissible in court.

After petitioning the Kerala High Court against an Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons, Aneesh Babu was directed to appear before the agency on May 30. However, he skipped the date and complied with the second summons on June 6, according to agency sources.

Last month, the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in Ernakulam registered a case against Sekhar Kumar, an Assistant Director at the ED’s Kochi office, and several others. The complaint alleged that private individuals approached Babu, demanding ₹2 crore in exchange for settling a money laundering case filed against him in March 2021, currently under investigation by the ED.

Following this, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi registered a money laundering case to investigate bribery allegations against its officer and others, based on the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) FIR, in which Sekhar Kumar was named as the first accused.

During his statement recorded last week in Delhi, Aneesh Babu reportedly "denied" any knowledge of an ED officer's involvement in the VACB case, stating that he was only acquainted with a person named Wilson.

Wilson, along with two others, was arrested by the VACB for allegedly accepting an initial ₹2 lakh bribe from Babu to "settle" the money laundering case against him.

Sources revealed that Babu informed investigators "he had no evidence" to support claims against the ED officer he had previously complained about. When asked to provide proof of more than 100 WhatsApp calls allegedly exchanged with Wilson, he failed to furnish any records, sources claimed.

During the investigation, authorities also discovered that a ₹50,000 transaction made by Babu to a shell company linked to the VACB case had been "returned".

(inputs from PTI)