Karnataka: ED Arrests Woman For 'Cheating' People By Claiming Political Connections
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has arrested a woman from Bengaluru, who claimed proximity with various "high-profile" politicians, as part of a money-laundering probe against her for allegedly cheating people by promising them high returns against gold, cash and bank deposits.
Aishwarya Gowda (33) was taken into custody on April 24 and a special court set up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Bengaluru sent her to the ED's custody for 14 days, the federal agency said in a statement.
The ED conducted searches in connection with the case at 14 locations in Karnataka on April 24-25. Premises linked to Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni were also searched. Kulkarni had told reporters that he was being harassed by the agency for the last one month.
"There should be some limit to troubling a person. It pains me to see people misusing the power they have. They want to finish me off politically and cut me off from people," he had said.
To a question on whether there were financial dealings between Gowda and him, Kulkarni had denied it, saying if there was any such dealing, it could be traced easily.
The ED said its probe against Gowda and her husband, Harish K N, besides others stems from various FIRs filed at different Karnataka police stations.
The allegation in the FIRs, it said, is that Gowda, her husband and others entered into a criminal conspiracy to "cheat" several individuals by taking gold, cash and funds through bank accounts from them and promising a "high rate" of return.
"However, the accused neither returned the money nor gave the promised return. She also threatened the investors of dire consequences in case of further pursuance of the matter by claiming her proximity to various high-profile politicians," the ED said.
It said her custodial interrogation is under progress.
The ED said it seized "incriminating" documents related to money-laundering activities, digital devices and Rs 2.25 crore in cash during the searches.
Criticising the ED action against Kulkarni, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had called it "political vendetta".
The ED raids are the outcome of the politics of vengeance and the BJP-led Centre often orders such action, Siddaramaiah told reporters at Chamarajanagar on Friday.
He also sought to know why the agency never raids properties owned by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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