New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has lodged a case against Karnataka minister D.K. Shivakumar and some others on charges of alleged money laundering claiming they were involved in alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions. Apart from Mr Shivakumar, an employee of Karnataka Bhavan in the capital, Haumant-haiah and some others have been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Other accused persons have been identified as Sachin Narayan, Anjaneya Hanumant-haiah and N. Rajendra,
The case has been lodged on basis of a chargesheet or prosecution complaint filed by the Income Tax Department against Mr Shivakumar earlier in Bengaluru special court for alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions to the tune of several crores. ED sources claimed the accused persons are likely to be summoned soon for recording their statements.
Earlier, the IT department had accused Mr Shivakumar and his associate S.K. Sharma for allegedly transporting large amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis using hawala network along with help of three other accused persons.
The ED claimed that according to facts and a detailed examination of the evidence, “it was clear that accused number 1 (Shivakumar) had established a vast network of persons and premises in Delhi and Bengaluru in order to transport and utilise unaccounted cash.’’ The IT department had alleged that all five accused conspired to evade tax. IT department had claimed that while Narayan was a business partner of Shivakumar, the other accused Sharma was the owner of Sharma Transports.
