AAP used liquor policy kickbacks to fund Goa poll campaign: ED chargesheet

The chargesheet accuses AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair of deputing an associate to allegedly misuse the government machinery in Punjab, following the AAP’s win in the state, to “arm twist” local liquor business operators in his absence. The ED further alleged that Nair utilised the Goa elections to launder the proceeds of crime from the “kickbacks”, allegedly to the tune of Rs 100 crore, received from the ‘South Group’.

“… kickback money would have come to the AAP after operations of the business but the party’s need was for funding the elections in Punjab and Goa and the fund requirement was urgent…,” the ED has claimed.

Nair, according to the ED, “engaged in making cash payments for campaign-related work” through an entity called Chariot Productions, allegedly engaged by AAP for advertising and other work for their Goa poll campaign.

The ED has claimed that after the formation of the Punjab government, Nair, utilising his “influence and access with the top leaders of the AAP”, used the government machinery of the Excise Department of Punjab to “fulfil his illegal and unlawful activities”.

The ED relied on the statement of competing manufacturers in Punjab to claim that it was “beyond doubt” that Nair, through businessman Dinesh Arora, who is accused of becoming a conduit for kickbacks from the South Group, “conspired to arm twist and blackmail private businesses to fulfil their agenda of amassing illegal funds” with the support of Delhi and Punjab governments. This, the agency claims, was after Nair got busy with the Goa elections.

The ED complaint relied on a December 23 statement of Manaswani Prabhune, who was allegedly engaged by Nair to carry out an election survey for AAP during the Goa elections. Nair “agreed to pay for the volunteers” to get field reports, and when Prabhune asked him how these payments will be made, he told her that “he will either use a firm to get this money transferred in account or will make cash payments”.

The ED claims that Prabhune told the agency that later, an AAP volunteer got in touch with her and asked her for bank account details where money could be transferred, to which she gave the bank account details of her publishing firm.

However, she said, the AAP worker refused to make the transaction stating that the “purpose of the transfer was not related to publication” and she provided “another current bank account” in which payments were made for 4-5 months.

However, “she felt that the firm (whose bank account was given) will be in trouble” as it “was not engaged to pay representatives of AAP directly to the volunteers”, following which they agreed to pay the volunteers directly in cash.

“As it can be seen that, after December 2020, representatives of Aam Aadmi Party started giving cash to her as well as volunteers,” the ED stated.

The ED has alleged that Nair, “by making payments for the services of volunteers for conducting surveys in Goa”, projected proceeds of crime as “untainted”.

The ED, relying on Arora’s statement, also highlighted a Punjab-based businesswoman’s case whom, the ED alleged, Arora threatened with an inspection report “used as a pretext to keep the (liquor) factories closed”, and she eventually paid Rs 51 lakh by way of cheque to the Punjab CM relief fund.