Holiday Inn linked to laundering, attached

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has attached Holiday Inn hotel, valued at Rs 120 crore, in the capital's Aerocity in a money laundering case against corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar.Tracking of the alleged proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 272 crore could further lead to questioning of some top bureaucrats and ministers who managed affairs in the civil aviation ministry during the UPA regime in 2008-09.The attachment order came on a day when the agency also filed a chargesheet naming Dubai-based Talwar and his son, Aditya, in a money laundering case.The ED said in its attachment order that in lieu of securing favourable traffic rights for Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar Airways, the international airlines made payments of Rs 272 crore to entities controlled by Talwar during 2008-09. The money from these payments was used to acquire Holiday Inn, ED said.Talwar had fled the country in 2017 after tax evasion and money laundering cases were registered against him by multiple agencies. He was deported from Dubai on January 31, arrested by the ED and is currently in judicial custody in Tihar jail."It is revealed that Deepak Talwar illegally engaged in liaising/lobbying with politicians, ministers, other public servants and officials of ministry of civil aviation for airlines such as Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar Airways for securing undue benefits for them," the agency claimed.The ED, which has also filed a chargesheet on Saturday against Talwar, said the accused illegally managed to secure favourable traffic rights for these airlines at the cost of national carrier Air India.The agency has already sought court permission to further question him to seek information about former senior bureaucrats and ministers who were involved in granting "favourable rights" to foreign airlines.Talwar has been accused of creating a web of entities owned by him and his family members in India and in offshore tax havens to launder Rs 272 crore received from international airlines. "Part of these payments were made to an account in the Bank of Singapore, belonging to a company, Asiafield Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands and beneficially owned by Talwar," the agency said.The ED has tracked the entire flow of Rs 272 crore to Talwar's front entities and how they were layered through a series of international money transfers, to finally integrate in India in Wave Hospitality Pvt Ltd, a company owned and controlled by Talwar and his family members in the name of his son, Aditya Talwar. "These proceeds of crime were then utilised in the construction of Hotel Holiday Inn in Aerocity, New Delhi," the agency said.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2Ozpxis