MUMBAI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has once again summoned Shiv Sena MP Bhavana Gawali on October 20 to record her statement in a money laundering case being investigated against her.
Gawali had failed to appear on being summoned earlier on October 4, and had sought two weeks’ exemption.
On Monday, the ED issued a second summons for her appearance on Wednesday.
The ED investigation is based on a complaint originally filed by the MP against the former office-bearers of her trust (Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan), accusing them of cheating. The police, however, suspect that Gawali, her close associate Saeed Khan, and others criminally conspired to convert her trust into a non-profit through forgery and fraud, siphoned off money and then filed a false case against the former office-bearers. Khan was arrested earlier.
The ED came across suspicious transactions at least two instances of alleged kickbacks camouflaged as payments for government contracts through Khan. In one instance, Khan’s company got a government contract to distribute food items among tribals, and in another, his company also got a sub-contract for road work. Khan’s companies received Rs 10 crore and Rs 5 crore for executing these projects respectively, but he was unable to provide details of those works.
