Enforcement Directorate probes Rs 164 crore fictitious transactions in Trinamool Congress accounts

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent a letter to a private commercial bank in Kolkata requesting details of alleged fictitious transactions worth Rs 164 crore from one of three frozen accounts of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). A total of 15 TMC bank accounts are under debit restrictions, with three accounts – totalling Rs 440 crore in deposits – frozen on instructions from both West Bengal police and the ED, and the remaining 12 accounts frozen on police orders alone. The freeze follows complaints from former party treasurer Aroop Biswas and rebel TMC legislators led by expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, who alleged the accounts could contain proceeds of corruption and extortion. The Calcutta High Court’s single‑judge bench rejected a petition seeking an interim stay on the ED’s order, leaving the freeze in place.

The investigation has expanded to include the aviation services firm Carewell Aviation, with the ED alleging circular trading and high‑value transactions amounting to about Rs 160 crore between TMC‑linked accounts and the firm. Assets under scrutiny include an Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and an Agusta 109 helicopter purchased for roughly Rs 112 crore, which may have been financed through party funds and leased back to the TMC for campaign use.