Surprised by ED case, says IRS officer Wankhede on money-laundering case

Mumbai: IRS officer Sameer Wankhede on Saturday expressed surprise over the alleged money laundering case registered against him by the ED, but assured that he will fully cooperate with the investigating agency. Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Wankhede is facing charges and a CBI probe for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore during the raid on the Cordelia cruise ship in October 2021, in which actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan Were. Was also arrested. “The ED had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in 2023. It is surprising that this ECIR is based on the CBI FIR, which is already in question before the Bombay High Court,” Wankhede said in a brief response in Maharashtra. Is under siege.” However, he informed that since the matter is sub-judice in the court, he will not say much on it but will give an appropriate reply in the court at the right time. Wankhede reiterated that he has full faith in the Indian judiciary. The IRS officer’s tenure as NCB Mumbai zonal director is under investigation by the CBI which had filed an FIR against him. The ED, which registered the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, has now called Wankhede for questioning. Wankhede, an IRS officer since 2008, had earlier moved the Bombay HC seeking protection from any coercive action by the ED. During the high-profile NCB raid on cruiser Cordelia, 20 people were arrested and some quantity of drugs were recovered in that operation. Subsequently, Wankhede and others faced an NCB vigilance inquiry over lapses in the raid. Charges against Aryan Khan were dropped in May 2022 due to lack of evidence