Kejriwal arrest: The money trail, in ED’s words — hawala web helped fund AAP Goa campaign

According to the ED, the money reached Goa via a network of hawala transactions run by informal cash couriers – known colloquially as angadiyas – with alleged links to AAP functionaries, members of the South Group, and Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd, a firm engaged by the party for its election campaign in Goa.

The ED claimed that Dinesh Arora, an accused-turned-approver and an alleged associate of former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, told the ED that on instructions of AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair,  he coordinated the hawala transfer of Rs 31 crore, with the help of Abhishek Boinpally, Sudhir and Rajesh Joshi.

ED said Joshi is the owner of Chariot; Sudhir a close associate of Nair; and Boinpally among key representatives of the South Group and an alleged aide of now jailed BRS leader K Kavitha.

As part of its probe, the ED claims, it found that many vendors engaged for outdoor campaigns by Joshi’s firm were made “part cash part bill” payments.

As per the ED, an employee of one such vendor, disclosed in statements that part of the payment to him was made in cash. The ED’s probe found that an employee of an angadiya operator had delivered Rs 6.29 lakh to this person.

The angadiya operator’s Goa office was raided by the Income Tax department in January 2022. According to the ED, “documents, chits and slips” were seized during the raid, which were eventually analysed and led the ED to conclude that approximately Rs 45 crore had been transferred through hawala transactions to Goa.

In subsequent disclosures, an employee of the angadiya operator told the ED that he had handed over a large amount of cash to three persons, including one Chanpreet Singh.

The ED claimed Chanpreet had been an employee of Chariot since 2020 and later joined as a freelancer for AAP’s election campaign. “He received a salary of Rs 55,000 in February-March 2021 from M/s Wizspk Communications and PR Ltd, who were engaged by the Department of Information and Publicity of the GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) for PR work. In addition, he has also received funds from OML (whose former CEO is) of Vijay Nair. These evidences further establish a deep relationship and nexus of Chanpreet Singh with all major conspirators and accused in the Delhi liquor scam, that is, Vijai Nair, Rajesh Joshi and certain AAP leaders and the AAP,” the ED claimed.

The ED said that after tracing the proceeds of these transactions, and through the statements of people engaged in the election campaign-related activities, it found that cash payments were made to them for their work done as survey workers, area managers, assembly managers.

“These persons have revealed that these payments were given to them in cash and were managed by Chanpreet. These persons and activities related to the election campaign were overall managed by Vijay Nair and Durgesh Pathak, AAP MLA in Delhi. This shows the dissipation and utilisation of proceeds of crime by the representative of Manish Sisodia in Goa elections. This is also corroborated by one of the candidates of AAP of Goa elections in 2022, who received funds for election expenses in cash from the AAP volunteers in Goa,” the ED said.

In response to the ED’s allegations, AAP’s Goa chief told The Indian Express that if this were true, they would have won the polls.

“None of the candidates received any money for elections… Whatever we spent was from our own pockets and accounted for,” AAP Goa president Amit Palekar told The Indian Express. “In fact, the BJP spent a huge amount of money during polls. Our only drawback was that we did not have money… yet we were able to win in two constituencies. If we had spent money like the BJP, we would have won the election.”

On reports that some candidates from the party, who contested the elections, had recorded statements with the ED, Palekar said, “There is no truth to these allegations. There is no question of anyone from the party recording any such statement with the ED as no one, including myself, received any funds from the party. We fought the polls on 39 seats and I am in touch with most of the candidates. Since the polls, a couple of them have joined the BJP.”

AAP had drawn a blank in the 2017 Assembly elections in its first foray in the coastal state. It first made inroads in Goa in 2020, when it won a zila panchayat seat in Benaulim. In the 2022 Assembly polls, AAP won two seats in South Goa – Velim and Benaulim.

A senior member of the AAP, requesting anonymity, said that a team of ED officials had come to Goa a few months ago to probe the allegations that alleged kickbacks from the excise policy had been routed to fund assembly elections in the state. “No one from the party recorded any statement as is being alleged. However, it is not difficult for the agency to get a statement… from a former disgruntled member of the party,” he claimed.

Sudesh Mayekar, who contested Assembly elections in 2022 for AAP from Calangute constituency and joined the BJP two months after the polls, said, “At the time of campaigning (when I was in AAP), I did not get a single rupee from the party’s fund for the elections. I spent everything from my pocket.”

In its remand application, the ED also emphasised on Kejriwal’s alleged role in the case.

“As the National Convenor and member of the National Executive, Kejriwal was ultimately responsible for the funds being used in the election expenses, including their generation. He was and is not only the brain behind the AAP but also controls its major activities… He is also involved in demand of kickbacks which have inter-alia generated further proceeds of crime,” the agency states.

“Due to his actions involving excise policy formulation, hatching the conspiracy of kickbacks with the South Group members, and eventually using part of the proceeds of crime generated out of this scheduled offence in the election campaign of AAP for Goa Assembly elections, it is clear all these activities were not only done with his knowledge but also his active collusion,” it said.