ED to question NCP leader on Oct 18; Patel claims case ‘unsubstantiated’
Another senior Minister from the earlier UPA Government landed in trouble on Tuesday as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Praful Patel for questioning on October 18 in connection with an alleged property deal between him and Hajra Iqbal, the wife of late Iqbal Mirchi, an erstwhile close aide of Karachi-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
As it readied itself to arrest former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday for custodial interrogation in the INX Media case, the ED prepared the ground for the questioning of former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on allegations of quid pro quo in a property deal with late Iqbal Mirchi’s wife Hajra.
Official sources said that at its office in Mumbai on October 18, the ED would record Patel’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with a deal between a real estate company promoted by him, his wife and late Mirchi’s wife.
The ED documents have revealed that Millennium Developers Pvt Limited, a company promoted by Patel and his wife, constructed Ceejay House and transferred its third and fourth floors to Mirchi’s wife Hajra Iqbal in 2007 “towards beneficial interest of Mirchi in the land on which the structure is built”. Patel and his wife own a significant number of shares in Millennium Developers Private Limited.
However, Patel dismissed the case, saying, “It is an old case and since I am on election tour, I am not privy to the documents. But I can tell you that the allegations against me are false and unsubstantiated.”
Talking to mediapersons here, he said, “Documents may have been leaked to media. Obviously, you are in possession of some papers which may have never been brought to my attention.”
The ED is investigating several property deals, including Ceejay House at Worli in south-central Mumbai, which was reportedly owned by Mirchi’s first wife Hajra Memon. Ceejay House is constructed on a plot allegedly owned by Iqbal Mirchi. The ED’s contention is that Patel redeveloped Ceejay House in 2005. The ED considers the property as “proceeds of crime”.
The ED’s move to question to Patel comes in the wake of the grilling of Mukhtar Memon, an alleged key person who handles various properties of Mirchi in Mumbai. Memon is the brother-in-law of Mirchi.
In his interaction with the media, Patel said that the matter was under investigation and the issue is if the “person at Ceejay House is linked with me”. The building, according to Patel, was there in 1970. “After my father’s death, there was dispute in the family among 21 co-owners. The Mumbai High Court was asked in 1978 to take charge and look after the property,” Patel said.
According to the list of Mirchi’s properties located in India and the UK, Ceejay House was constructed in 2006-07 as a joint venture (JV) between Mirchi and Millenium Developers Pvt Ltd.
The ED probe has revealed Mirchi had bought/developed several properties in India and abroad from the proceeds of crime generated through various illegal offences.
The NCP is seeing the action against its leader as “political vendetta” in the run up to the Maharashtra Assembly polls.