NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has attached Holiday Inn hotel, valued at Rs 120 crore, in the capital's Aerocity in a money laundering case against corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar.
Tracking of the alleged proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 272 crore could further lead to questioning of some top bureaucrats and ministers who managed affairs in the civil aviation ministry during the UPA regime in 2008-09.
The attachment order came on a day when the agency also filed a chargesheet naming Dubai-based Talwar and his son, Aditya, in a money laundering case.
The ED said in its attachment order that in lieu of securing favourable traffic rights for Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar Airways, the international airlines made payments of Rs 272 crore to entities controlled by Talwar during 2008-09. The money from these payments was used to acquire Holiday Inn, ED said.
Talwar had fled the country in 2017 after tax evasion and money laundering cases were registered against him by multiple agencies. He was deported from Dubai on January 31, arrested by the ED and is currently in judicial custody in Tihar jail.
"It is revealed that Deepak Talwar illegally engaged in liaising/lobbying with politicians, ministers, other public servants and officials of ministry of civil aviation for airlines such as Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar Airways for securing undue benefits for them," the agency claimed.
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