ED files plaint against Zakir Naik’s aide under money laundering act
The enforcement directorate on Saturday had filed a charge sheet against Aamir Gazdar, a close confidante of Dr Zakir Naik, and Harmony Media Limited — a company floated by Naik — for allegedly laundering money on behalf of the controversial televangelist.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a prosecution complaint against Aamir Gazdar, a close aide of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said on Monday.
According to the probe agency, Gazdar is accused of indulging in money laundering and assisting Naik by providing accommodation entries to “dummy companies” and utilising tainted money through his personal bank accounts and accounts of his family members.
“Out of the various companies established by Dr Zakir Naik, Aamir Gazdar was a director in at least six companies,” the ED said in a statement. Gazdar was arrested by the agency this year.
“Mr Gazdar had also given an amount of Rs 2.35 crore to Harmony Media Pvt. Ltd. There was no agreement entered by him for the said transactions. The registered office of Harmony Media Pvt Ltd is located at the ancestral building owned by his family. The unaccounted money worth around Rs 5.15 crore belonging to Dr Naik in cash has been handled by him without leaving any trail of its origin or utilization within a span of 8 months only. No other person is privy to the source and actual use of this substantial unaccounted cash ,” the agency said in a statement.
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