Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram (Congress), former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah (National Conference), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee’s nephew Abhishek Bannerjee (TMC), Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia (AAP), Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar’s newphew Ajit Pawar and Shiva Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut are prominent politicians facing PMLA charges by the Enforcement Directorate.
According to the ED, they face money laundering cases unconnected with their politics and there are several BJP politicians also under its dragnet. Buoyed by the Supreme Court’s ruling that politicians can claim no immunity from corruption charges, the Centre has now extended the scope of the PMLA to cover ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEPs).
PEPs are defined as “individuals who have been entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country, including the heads of States or Governments, senior politicians, senior Government or judicial or military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations and important political party officials”.
The new rules have it that every banking company or financial institution or intermediary will need to maintain detailed records of the nature and value of transactions of PEPs along with nonGovernmental organisations. In addition, the definition of a non-profit organisation has been expanded.
