Money laundering case: ED questions Shivkumar's brother

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday questioned Congress MP D.K. Suresh, the brother of former Karnataka Minister D.K. Shivakumar, on the second consecutive day in connection with the money laundering case against the Congress leader.

The questioning comes as Shivakumar remains in jail for a month after being arrested by the central probe agency on September 3 in the case.

Sources said that Suresh, the MP from Bengaluru Rural, was asked to appear before the agency with some specific documents sought by the ED which is probing the alleged hawala transactions to the Congress high command and also about the meteoric rise of his personal wealth.

In his election affidavit before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Suresh had declared that his assets have grown close to four times in the last five years. While his assets were valued at over Rs 85 crore in 2014, his affidavit for the election this year stated that his wealth is now approximately Rs 338 crore.

The ED has also questioned D.K. Shivakumar's daughter Aisshwarya and Belagavi Rural MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar in connection with the case.

Shivakumar, now in judicial custody, has been on the radar of the Income Tax Department and the ED since demonetisation in 2016. An Income Tax search at his New Delhi flat on August 2, 2017, led to the seizure of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 8.83 crore.

Thereafter, the Tax Department lodged cases against the Congress leader and his four associates under Sections 277 and 278 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Sections 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 193 (Punishment for false evidence) and 199 (False statements made in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Incidentally, according to Shivakumar's affidavit submitted to the Election Commission ahead of the Assembly elections in 2018, his daughter Aisshwarya owned assets of Rs 108 crore compared to only Rs 1.09 crore in 2013. Shivakumar, however, clarified that Aisshwarya was not dependent on his income and that he was still declaring her assets as per the Representation of Peoples Act.

( With inputs from IANS )