NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday accused the AAP of receiving black money, and termed the party a "brilliant propagandist" who wears the "label of honesty" on its sleeves.
Jaitley said in an article on the Bharatiya Janata Party website that the Aam Aadmi Party received black money through fake companies.
"It disclosed the names of a large number of corporate entities from whom it received donations by cheques," Jaitley wrote.
"The disillusioned AAP members appear to have conducted a search of these with the Registrar of Companies. The search uncovered the curious character of the donor companies," he added.
Referring to the AAP getting Rs.2 crore through cheques, the minister said there were lots of fake companies which were converting black money into white.
"The companies do not do any business. They have no profits from any legitimate business. They are 'entry lending companies'."
"The functioning of these 'entry lending companies' is very simple. At times, there are a large number of inter-connected companies created through a multi-layering process. Money is transferred from one to another. The companies are registered at obscure addresses," he wrote.
"Surely, when a company donates lakhs and crores to a political party, the party would attempt to know as to who the controlling interest behind these companies are? The only fact that the donations have been made by cheque does not purify the transaction. Withdrawal from Swiss bank accounts can also be made by cheques. Where a political party converts black money into white, its receipt would obviously be by cheque. That cannot wash away the sins of the convertor or the recipient since the entire transaction is fraudulent and a tax evasion exercise," Jaitley said in his article.
Noting that a company can donate a maximum of 7.5 percent of its average net profit of the three preceding financial years to political party the BJP leader asked whether the AAP had verified this fact.
(With IANS Inputs)