ED accuses Salman Khurshid’s wife of money laundering, attaches 15 properties of Trust

The agency said it provisionally attached 15 agricultural plots located in Farrukhabad district of UP and bank deposits, worth a combined ₹45.92 lakh, of the Dr Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)

LUCKNOW The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached 15 immovable properties of the Dr Zakir Husain Memorial Trust and accused senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s wife, Louise Khurshid and two others of allegedly laundering ₹71.50 lakh in central government funds for their personal gain.

A probe found that grant-in-aid of ₹71.50 lakh received by the trust was not utilised for holding camps sanctioned by the Government of India, but was laundered by the late Pratyush Shukla, a representative of the trust, Mohammad Athar alias Athar Farooqui, secretary to the trust, and Louise Khurshid, project director of the trust, for the interest of the trust and their personal gain, the agency claimed. (Pic for representation)

The agency, in a press statement, said it provisionally attached 15 agricultural plots located in Farrukhabad district of UP and bank deposits, worth a combined ₹45.92 lakh, of the Dr Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The plots are valued at ₹29.51 lakh and the amount kept in four bank accounts of the trust is ₹16.41 lakh, it said.

A probe found that grant-in-aid of ₹71.50 lakh received by the trust was not utilised for holding camps sanctioned by the Government of India, but was laundered by the late Pratyush Shukla, a representative of the trust, Mohammad Athar alias Athar Farooqui, secretary to the trust, and Louise Khurshid, project director of the trust, for the interest of the trust and their personal gain, the agency claimed.

Officials said the ED initiated investigation on the basis of 17 FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), UP Police, under various sections of the IPC,