NEW DELHI: Controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi "extorted" Rs 5.75 crore from a businessman in lieu of providing him help in a CBI case with the aid of a serving director of the central probe agency, the Enforcement Directorate has alleged.
The ED made the allegations in a charge sheet filed against Qureshi in a special court here yesterday. He is at present in jail.
"Moin Qureshi has extorted Rs 5.75 crore from a businessman under the promise of providing help in his family case with the CBI through the then director. One more businessman had to pay Rs 1.75 crore to Qureshi in lieu of the promise to help in a CBI case," the ED said in a statement making an apparent reference to former Central Bureau of Investigation chief A P Singh.
Singh has also been booked by the agency under various criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), apart from Qureshi and others.
The agency said he (Qureshi) had been "regularly sending gifts to various government servants holding important and sensitive positions who obtained the illegal gratification or pecuniary advantage either themselves or through their kith and kin".
It said, "BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) messages exchanged between Qureshi and the accused persons involved in other criminal cases and also the persons who wanted to seek undue favours from the other investigating agencies of the government by getting them off the hook."
The ED said, "In this way, he also obtained huge amounts of money for providing influence." The money was obtained in the name of government servants/political persons holding public office and they either obtained the money for themselves or through their kin, it said.
"In support of this, two public witnesses came forward and gave their statements that they had paid around Rs 7.5 crore to Qureshi to help them in getting relief from the investigating agency, CBI," the ED said.
Similarly, it said, a Mumbai-based businessman, an accused in the 2010 loan-for-bribery scam probed by the CBI, was also seeking favours from the agency through Qureshi and his contacts.
The ED said its probe showed that Qureshi, through his company Ms India Premier Services Pvt. Ltd. (IPSPL), applied for obtaining concessionaire agreement from airport operating company Ms DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited) for running lounge services at the Terminal-3 of the Delhi airport, but this was scuttled due to the "reservation of intelligence agencies".
"During the course of investigation certain facts have emerged which constitute omission and commission of certain acts on the part of certain public servants holding high positions in collusion with Qureshi causing huge amounts of illegal money transactions.
"Investigations have revealed that Qureshi was beneficial owner of offshore companies having bank accounts abroad," it said.
It has also been found that he has properties in Dubai and London, it said.
The ED alleged that Qureshi was involved in hawala transactions through Delhi-based hawala operators.
The meat exporter is also being probed by the Income Tax Department for alleged tax evasion.