ED registers cases in three ‘scams’ involving AAP leaders

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered money laundering cases in three different scams that took place during the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi.

The agency has filed Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs), the equivalent of an FIR, in hospital construction, CCTV, and shelter home scams worth Rs 6,368 crore.

After the filing of the case, the ED is likely to send a summons to senior AAP leaders for questioning.

The CBI and ACB are also investigating these scams.

On the basis of their investigation and the FIR copy, the ED has registered money laundering cases. However, official confirmation from ED was awaited.

In the hospital construction case, former health ministers and AAP leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Satyendra Jain were booked by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Delhi, for alleged corruption in health infrastructure projects involving 24 hospitals and expenditure of Rs 5,590 crore by the then Delhi government.

The cheating, breach of trust and conspiracy case was registered after the Centre, on the recommendation of Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena, granted sanction for proceedings against the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s minister under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The financial embezzlement linked to the projects, mired in inexplicable delays and astronomical cost overruns, took place in 2018-19.

Massive irregularities, unexplained delays, and significant misappropriation of funds were found in the construction of various hospitals, polyclinics and ICU infrastructure across the city, said an investigator.

Substantial deviations and cost escalations, amounting to several hundred crores, were observed.

Not a single project was completed within the prescribed timeline, said the complaint by the then Leader of Opposition, Vijender Gupta. The complaint named former Health Ministers Bhardwaj and Jain, alleging systematic manipulation of project budgets, misuse of public funds, and collusion with private contractors.

In the CCTV ‘scam’ of Rs 571 crore, a project was launched by the AAP government in 2019 to install 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras across all 70 Assembly constituencies in the national capital. The contract was awarded, but the work was not completed on time.

In the shelter home case, the ED has alleged corruption in the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) during AAP’s tenure, claiming that Rs 207 crore was embezzled using fake fixed deposit receipts.

IANS