Ex-NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede lands in trouble-ED registers case in Money Laundering Act (PMLA)
Ex-NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede lands in trouble-ED registers case in Money Laundering Act (PMLA)
Taking cognisance of a CBI FIR in an alleged Rs 25-crore bribe demand from superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s family to spare his son in a drugs case, official sources on Saturday revealed that the Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against former Mumbai NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede.
Reportedly, some former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials have also been summoned.
It is learnt that Wankhede, a 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking protection from any coercive action by the anti-money laundering agency.
Officials notify that in May 2023, he was booked by the CBI on charges of seeking Rs 25-crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.
Aryan Khan was arrested in the alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021.
Meanwhile, on a complaint from the NCB, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked Wankhede and others for alleged criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and threat of extortion (388 IPC) besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act
A year later, the NCB filed a charge sheet in the drugs-on-cruise case against 14 accused but gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan.
The much glorified case took a twist when an ‘independent witness’ claimed in 2021 that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and other persons, including a witness Gosavi, for Aryan Khan’s let-off.
The NCB later conducted an internal vigilance investigation against Wankhede and others and shared the contents with CBI to register a case against him.
News Edit K.V.Raman
