ED freezes TMC’s Rs 440-cr value financial institution deposits below PMLA | India Information
2 min learnJul 8, 2026 09:59 PM IST
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated on Wednesday that it has frozen three financial institution accounts of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), holding deposits value Rs 440.42 crore, below the anti-money laundering regulation, following searches in an alleged funds misappropriation case.
“The ED performed search operations at 5 premises in and round Kolkata below the provisions of the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The premises belonged to the Carewell group of corporations, which operates within the aviation sector. In the course of the searches, balances amounting to Rs 440.42 crore mendacity in three HDFC Financial institution accounts of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) have been frozen below Part 17(1-A) of the PMLA,” an ED spokesperson stated.
The searches have been performed in reference to a PMLA investigation based mostly on an FIR lodged by the Cyber PoliceBidhannagar, West Bengal, in a case involving alleged dishonest monetary dealings, illegal assortment of cash, and routing of suspected funds via sure financial institution accounts of the AITC, the spokesperson stated.
In response to the ED, its probe has revealed that round Rs 160 crore was transferred from AITC financial institution accounts to M/s Carewell Aviation India Pvt. Ltd. and its associated entity, principally between April 2023 and June 2026.
It was additional revealed that M/s Carewell Aviation India Pvt. Ltd. routed Rs 82.96 crore throughout 2023-2026 to a different newly included associated entity for the acquisition of an Embraer Legacy 600 plane and an Agusta 109 GrandNew helicopter.
“A complete of Rs 112 crore was used for these purchases. It was additionally revealed that USD 1.7 million was organized as an unsecured mortgage in 2023 from a Cayman Islands-based entity to buy the helicopter,” the spokesperson added.
“These Embraer Legacy 600 plane and Agusta helicopter have been subsequently rented out to AITC itself, regardless that they have been bought from the corpus of AITC. Later, substantial quantities have been transferred on the pretext of plane utilization. The above-mentioned doubtful association is below investigation to determine the precise useful function of the transactions,” the spokesperson stated.
