ED files charge sheet against former NSE bosses in phone tapping case

New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a charge sheet before the Rouse Avenue Court in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to phone tapping of NSE employees between 2009 and 2017.

The charge sheet was filed against NSE's former chiefs Chitra Ramakrishna and Ravi Narain, and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey.

Narain was recently arrested by the ED.

"Money was laundered in phone tapping. The payments made in the phone tapping is alleged proceeds of crime. There were shell companies through which money were laundered," it said in the charge sheet.

The ED has claimed that Pandey received Rs 4.54 crore to tap the MTNL lines to help Ramakrishna and these were proceeds of crime.

"Pandey ran iSec Securities Pvt. Ltd. It has been alleged that Ramkrishna used this firm to tap the phones of NSE employees. The phone calls made by NSE employees between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. were tapped and recorded by iSec Securities Pvt. Ltd. It has been alleged that Pandey helped in tapping the phone calls illegally," an agency source had said.

Ramkrishna and Pandey were placed under arrest in July by the federal anti money laundering agency.

Pandey had said that he tapped the phone lines but didn't do anything illegal. He said that all the equipments of tapping were made available by the NSE.

The ED's case is on the basis of the CBI's FIR, lodged on the directions of Union Ministry of Home Affairs.