Mohali: The special CBI-PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court here on Tuesday framed charges against former Akali minister Swaran Singh Phillaur, his son Damanvir Singh Phillaur, ex-chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Avinash Chander and their 9 other associates, under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act. Eight companies were also named in the money laundering case.
They are accused of laundering the money that had been generated from the multi-crore synthetic drug racket allegedly being run by wrestler turned cop turned drug kingpin Jagdish Bhola.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had pleaded that the drug racket busted by the Punjab Police in 2012-14 had national and international ramifications. Following the police action, the premier agency had also registered a case on March 25, 2013, under provisions of PMLA on the basis of an FIR registered at Fatehgarh Sahib police station. Eight FIRs were investigated under the PMLA. The police had chargesheeted 104 persons.
The Enforcement Directorate had in July, last year, filed a challan against these 12 persons in special CBI court which is also the special designated court under the Prevention of the Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 in which they had accused them of violating Section 4 of the said Act.
