ED seeks extradition of firm owner linked to Mukhtar Ansari’s son from UAE

LUCKNOW: Continuing probe into money laundering case against don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, Enforcement Directorate is now seeking extradition of Aaghaaz Constructions owner Anwar Shahzad, who is in Dubai. The ED has written to the authorities after finding the role of Shahzad in financial anomalies committed by Mukhtar Ansari’s son Abbas Ansari and his brother-in-law Atif Raza via the construction firm.
Shahzad concealed the details of the company from the bank and diverted funds. The ED sources added that they have served multiple summons to Shahzad, but he did not turn up. Last week, ED had filed chargesheet against Abbas and Atif in the same case while the probe against Mukhtar Ansari is still on.
Sources said that Shahzad, the director of Aaghaaz Constructions, had taken a loan from a public sector bank. “The owners of the firm concealed its details amounting to a separate case of dishonesty,” they added. Shahzad had conducted business transactions evading taxes. The ED sleuths have tracked the money laundered by Shahzad by forming bogus companies.
Sources in ED added that Mukhtar Ansari’s MLA son Abbas Ansari, and Mukhtar’s brother-in-law Atif Raza are the partners in this firm, along with Shahzad.
A case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was first registered against Mukhtar Ansari in June 2021 on the basis of an FIR lodged in Mau under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act.
Meanwhile, the sessions court of Allahabad had transferred the PMLA case against Mukhtar Ansari to designated PMLA court in Lucknow. This means the ED team from Prayagraj, currently probing the case, will now have to travel to Lucknow and seek permission for judicial custody and arrest of others only after producing it in the court from Lucknow.