ED arrests IRS-IT officer in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested an IRS officer of the Income Tax department in a money laundering investigation linked to a Rs 30 lakh bribery case in Gujarat. According to information, Santosh Karnani, a former additional commissioner of Income Tax posted in Ahmedabad, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on June 2. The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR.

Karnani has been in prison since he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sometime back. The ED moved a special PMLA court in Ahmedabad to secure his custody for interrogation. The court sent Karnani to ED custody till June 9, the agency said. The case against the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer pertains to allegations that he accepted an initial “bribe” amount of Rs 30 lakh through an Angadia (a courier company carrying cash between traders and businesses) firm named Dhara Angadia from Rupesh Balvantbhai Brahmbhatt of Safal Constructions Private Limited.

“It further emerged that there have been multiple suspicious transactions amounting to at least Rs 4.25 crore during 2021-2022, involving the said account maintained with the said Angadia firm,” the ED said. In October last year, the Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) laid a trap to apprehend Karnani while he accepted the bribe, but the officer gave the agency a slip. The case was later transferred by the ACB to the CBI. The CBI had also arrested a former assistant commissioner of I-T and Karnani’s junior Vivek Johri for allegedly disposing of his senior’s mobile phones in the Sabarmati river.