NEW DELHI, Aug 31:
A Delhi court today extended by four days the ED custody of controversial meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi in a money laundering probe against him and others.
Special Judge Arun Bharadwaj sent the accused to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate till September 4 after the probe agency said his interrogation was required to unearth the crime proceeds and money trail and confront him with the documents.
During the proceedings, ED special prosecutor N K Matta sought nine-day custody of Qureshi, who was produced before the court today after the expiry of his five-day ED custody.
The agency said Qureshi was in possession of more evidence in this case and was withholding them, jeopardising the probe.
The court had on August 26 sent him to five-day ED custody “considering the seriousness of the allegations and to enable the ED to complete thorough investigation.”
The agency had told the court that “the witnesses have confirmed in their statements that they have delivered crores of rupees for Qureshi and his associates through his employees and one of the witnesses has stated that nearly Rs 1.75 crore have been exported by the accused from him and his friend in lieu of the help provided to him in a CBI case.”
It had also alleged that Qureshi was involved in hawala transactions through Delhi hawala operators Parvez Ali of Turkman Gate and M/s South Delhi Money Changer (DAMINI) in Greater Kailash-1. According to the agency, Qureshi was arrested late night on August 25 here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after “he was not cooperating in the probe”. (PTI)