Arpita Mukherjee admitted that the money came from bribes and her house was used as a mini bank by the arrested TMC minister Chatterjee.
Mumbai: Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of the arrested TMC leader Partha Chatterjee who was also arrested along with him in an SSC recruitment scam has claimed that Chatterjee used her home as a ‘mini bank’ and stashed money in one of the rooms that only the minister and his people entered.
“All the money used to be stashed in one room that only Partha Chatterjee and his people entered, the minister never revealed how much money was there in the room.”, she told the ED says sources.
“Partha used my house and that of another woman as a mini-bank. That other woman is also his close friend,” Arpita Mukherjee reportedly told investigators.
Arpita Mukherjee’s lawyers are likely to deny ED’s allegations in court at the next hearing and attacked the agency for leaking details of their investigations to the media and pointing out the lack of convictions in the cases by central authorities.
Arpita Mukherjee, who is a former actor-model told that she was introduced to Partha Chatterjee by a Bengali actor and the two had been close since 2016.
Sources also claim that Arpita Mukjherjee admitted that the money came from bribes received for wire transfers and for helping colleges gain recognition. And that money was always brought by others, never by the minister.
The Enforcement Directorate reportedly has found incriminating documents. The agency claims the minister was in contact with Arpita Mukherjee and that the money found at her home was ‘proceeds of crime’. ED also found an incriminating diary with around 40 pages of notes that could provide crucial leads to the investigation. The ED also recovered several title deeds that may implicate Partha Chatterjee, as per the sources.
The minister was arrested on Saturday that was followed by a raid the previous day and Rs.20 crore in cash was found from her residence in relation with the recruitment scam. Both Partha Chaterjee and Arpita Mukherjee has been sent for the probe agency’s custody till August 3.
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