Evidence indicates that nearly Rs 30 lakh was transferred to Mamata Banerjee as claimed by Indranil Sen to be for royalty payments
KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said its money laundering probe into a Durga Puja ‘preview shows’ case involving former minister Indranil Sen found that his company transferred nearly Rs 30 lakh through banking channels to former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee . “About 98% of ED cases against politicians were filed against Opposition leaders. The remaining 2% are those who went and joined the BJP’s washing machine,” he said. “Investigation has revealed that cash of more than Rs 3.8 crore was deposited into the bank accounts of Indranil Sen and his proprietorship concern, Octave Records, during his tenure.
Sen claimed the amount was paid as “royalty”, the agency said. “Also, from the bank account of Octave Records, a sum of nearly Rs 30 lakh was transferred via banking channels to Mamata Banerjee, the then chief minister of West Bengal, which Indranil Sen has claimed was paid in the form of royalty,” the ED claimed.
The accused, through MassArt, sold tickets priced between Rs 1,749 and Rs 5,499 to the public for ‘Preview Shows’ across 24 Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata, according to the agency.
The ED said a core element of the alleged “fraudulent” scheme was MassArt’s “deceptive” and “unauthorised” exploitation of UNESCO’s name, goodwill and logo for commercial purposes.