The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth Rs 3.4o crore of Anil Jaisinghani, a bookie, in a money laundering case. Jaisinghani along with his daughter allegedly tried to extort and blackmail Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s wife Amruta Fadnavis. “ED has traced and attached immovable property worth Rs 3.40 Cr held in the name of Anil Jaisinghani, a cricket bookie. Prosecution Complaint was filed against Anil Jaisinghani by ED on 6/6/2023 before the PMLA Spl. Court, Ahmedabad & Hon’ble Court has taken cognizance,” the ED said in a statement.
ED files charge sheet against Anil Jaisinghani
A charge sheet has been filed against alleged cricket bookie Anil Jaisinghani in a money laundering investigation linked to a 2015 IPL betting case. Jaisinghani was arrested by the federal agency in April. ED said he was “evading” summons and not cooperating in the investigation after a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court issued a non-bailable warrant against him in 2015.
The ED’s case against Jaisinghani is based on a 2015 FIR of the Vadodara Police that was registered against various bookies who allegedly placed bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. “Anil Jaisinghani was involved in cricket betting activities and had accumulated huge sums of money through his fraudulent activities and through the persons connected with Maruti-Ahmedabad, an entity engaged in betting activities,” the ED said.
The agency conducted raids at his premises in May and provisionally attached a hotel property (located in Shirdi, Maharashtra) worth Rs 3.40 crore of Jaisinghani on June 5. The agency filed a charge sheet against Jaisinghani on June 6 under money laundering charges and the special PMLA court in Ahmedabad has taken cognisance of the prosecution complaint, it said.
Amruta Fadnavis case
Jaisinghani and his daughter Aniksha were also arrested a few months back by the Mumbai Police for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to bribe and blackmail Amruta Fadnavis and using private messages to extort money from her when she refused to save (Anil) Jaisinghani from several FIRs lodged against him.
Aniksha tried to offer a bribe of Rs 1 crore to Amruta Fadnavis. The Malabar Hill Police Station in south Mumbai on February 20 registered an FIR against Anil Jaisinghani and Aniksha for allegedly threatening to make public certain audio and video clips that purportedly show Amruta Fadnavis accepting favours from Aniksha. Aniksha, who was arrested on March 17, was granted bail in the case on March 27 by the court. Anil Jaisinghani, who was arrested by the Mumbai Police from Gujarat, is currently in judicial custody after the court rejected his bail plea.
(With PTI inputs)