ED arrests man who managed AAP funds during Goa Assembly election campaign

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a man who allegedly managed funds for the Aam Aadmi Party’s 2022 Goa Assembly election campaign in the Delhi liquor policy case, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

The man, Chanpreet Singh, was arrested on Friday and produced before a Delhi court on Saturday, an unidentified official told the newspaper. “He was sent to ED [Enforcement Directorate] custody till April 18 by the court,” the official said.

This is the 17th arrest by the central agency in the case. Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21, and is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

The Enforcement Directorate alleged that bribes received from a “South Group” were used for the Kejriwal-led party’s election campaign in Goa.

It claimed that funds were sent to Goa through hawala transactions carried out by informal cash couriers who were allegedly linked to the Aam Aadmi Party, the South Group and Chariot Productions Media Private Limited, a company hired by the party for the election campaign.

The Enforcement Directorate also said that an employee of an informal cash courier operator claimed that he had handed over a large amount of cash to three persons, including Singh.

Singh allegedly collected Rs 17.38 crore from the employee between August 2021 and January 2022, according to The Indian Express.

In May 2023, the Central Bureau of Investigation had also arrested Singh in the Delhi liquor policy case. The Enforcement Directorate’s money-laundering investigation is based on the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The Delhi liquor policy case

The Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation have alleged that there were irregularities in the Delhi government’s now-scrapped liquor excise policy.

The policy came into effect in November 2021. It was withdrawn on July 30, 2022, with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending an investigation into the alleged irregularities of the policy.

The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government modified Delhi’s liquor excise policy to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.

The Enforcement Directorate has also claimed that members of a “South Group” had paid at least Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party through businessman Vijay Nair, who is currently in jail.