Karnataka minister and Congress leader DK Shivakumar was on Tuesday booked in an alleged case of money laundering. Shivakumar, along with a few others, was booked on the basis of a tax evasion and hawala transactions case. Along with Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and some others have also been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED may soon summon the accused for recording their statements.
Earlier this year, the Income Tax department had filed a complaint against Shivakumar before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.
IT officials had accused Shivakumar and his associate S K Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through ‘hawala’ channels with help of three other accused.
“As per facts and analysis of evidences, it is clear that accused number 1 (Shivakumar) has set up an extensive network of persons and premises across Delhi and Bengaluru in order to transport and utilise unaccounted cash,” the IT department had said.
Other accused booked in the case are Sachin Narayan, Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah and N Rajendra, it said.
As per the tax department, Narayan is a business partner of Shivakumar and Sharma is the proprietor of Sharma Transports, which provides transport services to various concerns and individuals on rental basis.
Haumanthaiah and Rajendra are associated with Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi.