ED arrests lawyer Rohit Tandon under PMLA

Senior advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for Tandon, denied the allegations, saying "what they (ED) are saying is the proceeds of crime, I am saying it is my money".
Delhi based lawyer Rohit Tandon, whose law firm was raided by Income-Tax officials earlier this month, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the ongoing money laundering case against him, in new delhi on thursday. (Shekhar Yadav | EPS)
Delhi based lawyer Rohit Tandon, whose law firm was raided by Income-Tax officials earlier this month, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the ongoing money laundering case against him, in new delhi on thursday. (Shekhar Yadav | EPS)

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday arrested controversial lawyer Rohit Tandon in a money laundering case relating to conversion of over Rs 60 crore of scrapped high value currency notes.

“The ED has arrested Advocate Rohit Tandon under PMLA in over 60 crore note conversion case in connivance with Kotak Bank manager and businessman Paras Mal Lodha,” said an agency official.

The official said Tandon, who was being questioned by the ED for the last one week, was arrested late last night under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Tandon was allegedly instrumental in the illegal conversion of demonetised currency worth over Rs 60 crore in alleged connivance with Kolkata-based businessman Paras Mal Lodha and Kotak Bank manager Ashish Kumar who was arrested by the agency earlier this week.

Apart from Tandon and Kotak Bank Manager, the ED has already arrested Lodha. The trio will be confronted with each other during investigation.

Both Lodha and Tandon were being grilled together during the last few days and the duo was even confronted with the facts gathered during the probe so far. However, Tandon continued to be evasive during interrogation, following which the agency arrested him in order to subject him to custodial interrogation, the official said.

Tandon's case relates to a joint operation of Delhi Police and the Income Tax Department earlier this month when the agencies had seized Rs 13.6 crore, of which Rs 2.6 crore was in newly-introduced high value currency notes from a law firm associated with him.

Taking cognisance of the Delhi Police FIR, the ED had registered a case under PMLA.

During an Income Tax Department probe, Tandon had admitted to own undisclosed income worth over Rs 125 crore.

Sources said Tandon’s role is also being probed for laundering a significant amount of money from a cooperative bank in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, a designated court here granted custody of Tandon and Lodha till January 2.

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