The ED claimed that BRS leader K Kavitha conspired with the members of the so-called ‘South Group’ and AAP leaders and participated in the generation, acquisition and use of the proceeds of crime of Rs 292.8 crore in the Delhi liquor policy case.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha allegedly conspired with the members of the so-called ‘South Group’ and AAP leaders to pay kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore and receive undue benefits in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in its chargesheet exclusively accessed by India Today.
Kavitha, by way of conspiracy and formation of Indo Spirits, participated in the generation, acquisition and use of the proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 292.8 crore, which was derived as a result of the conspiracy and payment of kickbacks, the probe agency claimed.
“By showing Indo Spirits as a genuine business entity and acquiring the proceeds of crime of Rs 292.8 crore, she is involved in projecting the proceeds of crime as genuine profit from a legitimate business,” the ED chargesheet said.
The BRS leader also received the proceeds of crime of Rs 5.5 crore from Indo Spirits in the name of her associate Abhishek Boinpally, the probe agency alleged.
“K Kavitha, by paying kickbacks to government functionaries through their middleman, has participated in the generation of proceeds of crime of Rs 1,100 crore,” it claimed, adding that she allegedly participated in the transfer of proceeds of crime to government functionaries.
According to the ED, Kavitha deleted evidence and the contents of her mobile phone to conceal her role and involvement in the case. It added that the BRS leader presented nine phones for the examination that were all formatted and had no data.
During questioning, Kavitha was evasive and couldn’t give any explanation for those formatted phones, the ED claimed.
The ED, in its chargesheet, said Kavitha was also involved in acts of influencing witnesses in the case.
“Buchi Babu, the chartered accountant of K Kavitha in his statement, revealed that an associate of the BRS leader was being asked to retract his statements against her given to the ED on February 23 and February 28,” the probe agency alleged.
Earlier in the day, a Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Kavitha till July 3in the liquor policy case. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended custody after Kavitha was produced before the court.
The court had issued a production warrant against her after taking cognisance of a chargesheet against the BRS leader in the case on May 29.
Kavitha is in judicial custody in the two cases lodged by the ED and the CBI in the liquor policy case. Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested by the ED from her Banjara Hills home in Hyderabad on March 15. She was also subsequently arrested by the CBI from Delhi’s Tihar Jail, where she is lodged.
The investigating agencies have flagged loopholes in the liquor policy and alleged kickbacks totalling Rs 100 crore from the ‘South Group’, of which Kavitha was allegedly a part, were exchanged.
