Rohit Tandon, Paras Lodha sent to 4-day ED custody in money laundering case

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday sent city-based lawyer Rohit Tandon and businessman Paras Mal Lodha, arrested in connection with a money laundering case, to four-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate.

The duo were produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Ashok Kumar, who allowed their custodial interrogation till January 2.

The ED had arrested Tandon in Dehi this morning in connection with a money laundering probe in a case of seizure of Rs 13.6 crore post demonetisation after the police raided his law firm premises as part of an anti-black money operation.

Lodha was arrested on December 21 and later the court had sent him to seven-day ED custody on December 22.

Advocate Vikas Garg, appearing for the ED, moved two applications before the court seeking 14-day custodial interrogation of Tandon and seven days extension of custody

Lodha.

However, the court only allowed four days of custodial interrogation for both of them.

The ED submitted that as per the FIR, Tandon knew about the details of persons involved in the alleged money laundering racket.

"The accused is needed to trail the proceeds of crime and to co-relate the collected information and identify the beneficiaries," he said.

Senior advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for Tandon, denied the allegations, saying "what they (ED) are saying is the proceeds of crime, I am saying it is my money".

"The Ministry of Finance does not say violating Centre's November 8 demonetisation notification will make it an offence. Any amount of money can be deposited in accounts till December 30," he said.

Seeking extension of Lodha's ED custody, Garg said "in this matter, an amount of around Rs 20 crore is involved.

Search was conducted in Delhi and Kolkata where five locker keys and computer data were collected. In the raid at his Delhi apartment, 10,000 incriminating documents were collected. Lodha is needed in order to correlate the collected data."

Lodha's counsel Sushil Bajaj said there was no ground to extend the custody of his client who is entitled to be released on bail.

"When ED says it has already probed and recovered things, then why is his custody needed? Nothing has been recovered from his possession," he claimed and added that in case of custodial interrogation, Lodha's lawyer should be permitted to be present.

The counsel also sought medical attention for him as he was suffering from ailments like mouth cancer and also had brain tumour which was removed and has two stents in his arteries.

The agency suspected that Tandon was allegedly instrumental in the illegal conversion of demonetised currency worth about Rs 60 crore in purported connivance with Lodha and arrested Kotak Mahindra Bank manager in Delhi, Ashish Kumar.

With Tandon's arrest, the investigative agencies have now nabbed some of the major players of the two high-profile black money rackets unearthed after the note ban.

Tandon's case pertains to an operation of Delhi Police's Crime Branch and the Income Tax department earlier this month when they had seized Rs 13.6 crore, of which Rs 2.6 crore was in new currency, allegedly from a law firm that he is associated with.

The ED had booked a PMLA case against him based on the police FIR.

The lawyer was earlier separately searched by the tax department where it was said that he had declared undisclosed income worth over Rs 125 crore to the taxman.