The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a money laundering case against Former Minister KTR in a case linked to alleged payment irregularities during the Formula-E race held in Hyderabad in February 2023.
The timing has come as a complete surprise because the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) has been registered under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act taking cognizance of a Telangana Police Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) FIR filed on Thursday.
That means the ED is in action in less than 24 hours.
ED cases are often very complicated. The basis of the ED cases is not corruption. If the money is transferred to Foreign Accounts without following due process, it is a crime as per the Enforcement Directorate.
In this case, the established procedures require administrative sanction from the state government, in concurrence with the Finance Department, for expenditures exceeding Rs 10 crore. But no such sanctions were taken. There is no approval by the state cabinet and the Finance Department had no idea.
Also, the amounts were transferred to Formula E Operations Limited (FEO), a company registered under UK laws.
That means this is a clear case of FERA and FEMA violations.
So there is certainly a ground for the ED case against KTR. It is more serious than the ACB case.
ACB has to work hard to prove corruption in the case but the procedural lapses are quite evident and so, the ED case will be a tough nut to crack for KTR.
It has to be seen how serious the consequences will be!
