'Qureshi extorted ₹5.75 cr for help in CBI case'

New Delhi: Controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi "extorted" Rs 5.75 crore from a businessman to help him in a CBI case with the aid of a serving director of the central probe agency, the Enforcement Directorate has alleged.

Millennium Post was the first to report on the hawala dealer's powerful connections in the CBI, and how he used his influence with a former CBI boss to curry favours.

The ED made the allegations in a charge sheet filed against Qureshi in a special court here on Monday. He is at present in jail.

"Moin Qureshi has extorted Rs 5.75 crore from a businessman under the promise of providing help in his family case with the CBI through the then director. One more businessman had to pay Rs 1.75 crore to Qureshi for help in a CBI case," the ED said in a statement making an apparent reference to former Central Bureau of Investigation chief A P Singh.

Singh has also been booked by the agency under various criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), apart from Qureshi and others.

The agency said he (Qureshi) had been "regularly sending gifts to various government servants holding important and sensitive positions who obtained the illegal gratification or pecuniary advantage either themselves or through their kith and kin".

It said, "BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) messages exchanged between Qureshi and the accused persons involved in other criminal cases and also the persons who wanted to seek undue favours from the other investigating agencies of the government by getting them off the hook."

The ED said, "In this way, he also obtained huge amounts of money for providing influence."

He collected money in the name of government servants/political persons holding public office, and they either obtained the money for themselves or through their kin, it said.