ed-freezes-440-crore-in-tmc-accounts-over-money-trail-probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday froze Rs 440.42 crore lying in three HDFC Bank accounts of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) as part of its money laundering probe into alleged financial irregularities involving party funds and aviation companies.

 

The action followed searches at five locations in and around Kolkata linked to the Carewell Group of Companies, which operates in the aviation sector. The searches were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

 

According to the ED, the investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Cyber Police in Bidhannagar, West Bengal, alleging dishonest financial dealings, unlawful collection of money and routing of suspected funds through certain TMC bank accounts.

 

The agency claimed that around Rs 160 crore was transferred from TMC accounts to Carewell Aviation India Pvt Ltd and a related entity between April 2023 and June 2026. Of this, Rs 82.96 crore was allegedly routed to another newly incorporated company to purchase an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet and an Agusta 109 Grand New helicopter.

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The ED said about Rs 112 crore was spent on acquiring the two aircraft. It further alleged that USD 1.7 million was arranged as an unsecured loan from a Cayman Islands-based entity in 2023 to finance the helicopter purchase.

 

According to the agency, the aircraft and helicopter were subsequently leased back to the TMC, despite being acquired using funds allegedly originating from the party's corpus. The ED said substantial payments were later made under the guise of aircraft usage, describing the arrangement as "dubious" and intended to conceal the actual beneficiary and purpose of the transactions.

 

During Tuesday's searches, the agency froze the Rs 440.42 crore held in the three HDFC Bank accounts under provisions of the PMLA.

 

The ED said investigations are continuing to ascertain the actual nature of the financial transactions and identify those responsible. No response from the Trinamool Congress was immediately available on the agency's latest action.