BJP MP points finger at Ashok Gehlot, files money laundering complaint with ED

PTI, Jun 9, 2023, 4:44 PM IST

BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena on Friday filed a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate, alleging that some business ventures were being used to launder Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s black money.

The complaint against CM’s son Vaibhav Gehlot and a man described as the the younger Gehlot’s business associate seeks action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Several others, including Vaibhav Gehlot’s wife, are also named in the complaint in which the Rajya Sabha MP alleges that a Mauritius-based shell company is involved in the money laundering.

The MP arrived at the central agency’s office here with a small group of supporters and handed over the 10-page complaint to an ED joint director.

The complaint said Vaibhav Gehlot, who is also the Rajasthan Cricket Association president, has links with the businessman who runs ventures across the country using “illegal money channelised from Ashok Gehlot”.

Meena named two hotel businesses alleging that they are part of the alleged money laundering scam.

The BJP leader said the “facts” presented in the complaint required a detailed, independent investigation by the ED.

He alleged that tax evasion and ‘benami’ transactions were carried out by Vaibhav Gehlot and others.

At a press conference a day earlier, Meena claimed that investigations will reveal the CM to be the richest politician in the country.

There was no immediate comment from the chief minister or his office.

Meena had also alleged on Thursday that the CM’s son invested Rs 96.75 crore through the Mauritius-based shell company in a hospitality firm which runs a hotel in Jaipur. The shell company is being used to launder the Gehlot family’s “black money”, he claimed.

Both the hospitality firm and the Mauritius company were formed in 2007, Meena had told reporters.

He also claimed that the approval for the construction of the Jaipur hotel was given by the Jaipur Development Authority in 2009, during the Congress leader’s earlier term as chief minister.

He also alleged irregularities in granting permission for the construction of hotels in Udaipur and Mount Abu, and claimed that these properties belonged to people close to Gehlot.

Meena also claimed that a London-based NRI doctor who is close to the CM invested Rs 100 crore in the shell company.