Amanatullah Khan took public funds meant for Delhi riot victims: ED

New Delhi: AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan opened an "unauthorised" bank account soliciting funds for Delhi riot victims and some of this public money was withdrawn in cash and handed over to him, the ED claimed Wednesday after it filed a charge sheet against him.

The federal probe agency filed the supplementary prosecution complaint against the legislator and his second wife Maryam Siddiqui before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi on Tuesday.

The case has been listed for hearing on November 4.

The money laundering case of ED pertains to alleged irregularities committed during Khan's tenure as the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board between 2016-2021. The 50-year-old MLA represents the Okhla seat in the Delhi assembly.

The agency also accused Khan of not disclosing "complete details" about dependents in his election affidavit.

"Amanatullah Khan, without taking any approval from the Delhi Waqf Board, floated 'Delhi Waqf Board Relief Committee'.

"In order to solicit funds in the name of Delhi riot victims, Khan opened an unauthorized bank account in the name of Delhi Waqf Board Relief Committee and some of the funds obtained from the public were withdrawn in cash under the directions of Khan and were handed over to him," the agency said.

The Delhi riots took place in February, 2020.

Khan, according to the ED, did not furnish "the complete details of his dependents" in the election affidavit filed by him.

"Maryam Siddiqui was married to Amanatullah Khan and is a complete dependent of Amanatullah Khan. It is to be mentioned that she does not have any known source of income and has not filed any Income Tax Returns," it said.

Investigation found, the ED said, an immovable property worth Rs 19 lakh was purchased by Khan in 2020 "in the name of his second wife Smt Maryam Siddiqui and payment for the same was made partly in cash and partly from the amount received from his close associate Zeeshan Haider".

The agency alleged that Khan along with his associates like Haider and Daud Nasir were "managing" the "ill-gotten money" of the MLA during his tenure as the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board and used the same to make "cash payments" via Kausar Imam Siddiqui (Khan's alleged fund manager) for purchasing a property at 275-276, TTI Tikona Park in Okhla area. This property belonged to Jawed Imam Siddiqui.

It claimed a seized white diary "handwritten" by Kausar Imam Siddiqui showed that cash payments to the tune of Rs 27 crore were made by the close associates of Khan for the purchase of this property at Tikona Park.

The ED said it found "huge amounts of suspicious cash deposits" in the bank accounts of seller Jawed Imam Siddiqui and his wife.

Khan, Haider, Daud Nasir, Kausar Imam Siddiqui and Jawed Imam Siddiqui were arrested in this case by the ED and they are lodged in jail currently under judicial custody.

The first charge sheet in this case, against all these accused except Khan, was filed by the ED in January.

The money laundering probe against Khan stems from two FIRs -- the Central Bureau of Investigation's case in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Waqf Board and an alleged disproportionate assets case registered by the Delhi police anti-corruption unit.