Chhattisgarh liquor scam: ED identifies Rs 28 cr proceeds of crime

New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Thursday that it has arrested Nitesh Purohit and Trilok Singh Dhillon during its ongoing money laundering investigation into the alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.

The ED conducted searches at various locations connected to hawala operators and entities where proceeds of crime were suspected to be parked.

During the search, movable properties worth Rs 28 crore suspected to be proceeds of crime were unearthed and seized.

The ED is conducting an investigation into the liquor scam between 2019 to 2022 in which money was illegally generated and siphoned off in various ways.

"We have divided it into parts. PART-A Commission: Bribe was collected from the distillers per case basis of liquor procured from the distillers by the CSMCL (State body for purchase and sale of liquor). PART-B: Sale of unaccounted kacha off-the-books country liquor. In this case, not even 1 rupee reached the state exchequer, and all the sale proceeds were pocketed by the Syndicate. The illegal liquor was sold from state-run shops.

"PART-C commission: Bribes taken from distillers to allow them to make a cartel and have fixed market share. This cartel was the exclusive supplier for Chhattisgarh. Commission from FL-10A license holders who were introduced to earn kickbacks/illegal gratification from them in foreign liquor segment also," said the ED official.

The ED investigation has revealed that Nitesh Purohit, a close associate of Anwar Dhebar, was involved in the handling and movement of illegally collected cash. He was transporting cash as per the instructions of Anwar Dhebar.

The investigation has also revealed that Dhillon was a prime beneficiary of the proceeds of crime through a classic mode of money laundering. Dhillon willingly and knowingly allowed his bank accounts and firms to be used for layering of large amount of proceeds of crime. Without any reasonable explanation, he took funds through banking channels from the FL-10A license holders falsely showing as unsecured loan and kept as FD. Dhillon also took kickbacks from major country liquor suppliers in the guise of business transactions and kept the money with him. The underlying business transactions shown have been found to be completely bogus.

"During search operation at his premises, illegal surveillance was mounted on the ED's operation with the help of aerial drone by unidentified persons. The ED has frozen FDs of Rs 27.5 crore in the name of his firms involved in money laundering and also seized Rs 52 lakhs in unaccounted cash," said the official.