The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets valued at 061.20 crore to Chaitanya Baghel who is the son of a former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel in relation to the scam in liquor in the state. The move was declared on Thursday and it was a significant advance in the current money-laundering investigation.
As per an official declaration, the appended properties have 364 residential plots and agricultural land pieces valuing 59.96 crore and movable properties in the form of bank balances and fixed deposits amounting to 1.24 crore. The move is after an FIR was lodged by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Economic Offences Wing (EDW) in Raipur on different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
According to the agency, the liquor scam cost the Chhattisgarh government a lot of money, and more than 2,500 crores worth of alleged proceeds of crime were made in the state through corruption and manipulation in the liquor trade.
A PMLA investigation by ED showed Chaitanya Baghel was a central participant who was at the top of the liquor syndicate. The agency alleged that Baghel had been using his leverage as a son of the then chief minister to manage financial transactions and keep the hisab of the illegal money.
The ED states that he was the one who made all the major decisions related to the collection, transfer, and use of these funds. It also claimed that Baghel had washed the illegal money with his real estate business, Baghel Developers, and with that money funded his project, Vitthal Green, in which he projected the illegal money as business lawful income.
The ED indicated that it is still investigating the case and that additional measures, such as prosecution complaints, might be taken depending on new evidence that will be discovered as the case progresses.
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