The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has leveled serious allegations against BRS leader K. Kavitha in its supplementary chargesheet filed on Monday in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam case. According to the ED, Kavitha wiped data from eight mobile phones that could have contained crucial evidence.
The anti-money laundering agency stated that Kavitha, who was arrested in March, was booked into a lavish Rs 10 lakh suite at a five-star hotel in the national capital.
In the 177-page chargesheet, the ED accused Kavitha of conspiring with the ‘South group’ to pay Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in exchange for securing lucrative liquor licenses.
The agency further alleged that Kavitha plotted to acquire a stake in the company Indo Spirits, which obtained a wholesale license after paying the Rs 100 crore bribe. It claimed Kavitha benefitted from Indo Spirits’ 12% profit margin, eventually making Rs 192.8 crore in profits until the excise policy was scrapped.
“These kickbacks were paid in exchange of undue favours…ensuring stakes for the ‘South group’ in different liquor businesses, directing Pernod Ricard to the ‘South group’ wholesaler, and allowing holding multiple retail zones,” the ED document stated.
It added that the Rs 100 crore “kickback” was then routed to Goa through illegal channels, allegedly to fund AAP’s election expenses, making it “proceeds of crime”.
Moreover, the ED claimed Kavitha and others from the ‘South group’ formed Indo Spirits as a “vehicle to recoup and launder proceeds of crime”. Access to Pernod Ricard’s stocks purportedly resulted in artificially inflated profits.
The alleged scam caused a direct loss of Rs 581 crore to the Delhi government, according to the ED’s allegations against the BRS leader.
Kavitha was previously confronted about formatting her phones, which the ED said she denied initially before becoming evasive when presented with forensic evidence.
