NEW DELHI, BENGALURU : The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Aisshwarya, daughter of Congress strongman DK Shivakumar for about nine hours at its office in Delhi, in connection to a money laundering case.“The agency has recorded Aisshwarya’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). There were many documents which were presented to her to explain the financial transaction,” the official said.
The officials said that there were questions over the transactions of funds from trusts which is registered in her name that handles several educational institutions in Karnataka. The ED had alleged that many high value transactions were done by the trust, which they suspected were diverted to political fund. Another reason she was called for questioning was the large number of properties which were bought in her name. In 2013, Aisshwarya had financial assets worth Rs 1.09 crore. In 2018, DKS declared assets worth Rs 618 crore in his 2018 election affidavit and stated that his daughter’s total assets are worth Rs 108 crore.
The ED had questioned the sudden rise in fortune. She was questioned on her Singapore visit which she made with her father in July 2017. Even though, during his questioning, DKS had claimed that it was a ‘business deal’, ED maintains that their trip is now under the scanner. The deal was done with Cafe Coffee Day and Soul Space. The official did not comment over whether the questioning was satisfactory. They added that if required, she can be called again by the agency.
According to sources, Aisshwarya briefly met her father at the Tughlaq Road Police Station, where he has been lodged since his arrest by the ED on September 3 in a money laundering case. “The agency did not question the father-daughter duo together on Thursday. She was accompanied to the ED office by her uncle and Congress Kunigal MLA Dr Ranganath, who is also Shivakumar’s personal physician,” said a source to TNIE.
DKS, meanwhile, has been maintaining that the Rs 8.6 crore cash (approximately), which was recovered by the Income Tax Department, Karnataka & Goa in August, 2017 from the four properties in Delhi and Karnataka did not belonged to him, added the source.“Shivakumar has told the ED that the cash didn’t belong to him and he had no knowledge of its presence or source in the apartments in Safdarjung Enclave,” said the source.
Sources close to the Vokkaliga leader said that they were shocked to see DKS’ dishevelled condition and took the court permission to give him a shaving kit. “We gave him a shaving kit a couple of days back on court permission,” added an associate of DKS.The ED had arrested DKS on September 3 evening for allegedly laundering money and for suspected transactions done abroad through several shell companies.