National Conference president Farooq Abdullah did not appear before the court in a money laundering case related to the alleged financial irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) here on Saturday due to “health issues”.
As the case, before the court of Principal District and Sessions Judge, Srinagar was called, Abdullah’s lawyer Ishtiyaq Ahmad Khan said the NC chief is not able to attend the court due to health issues.
The judge told Khan that Abdullah should be present in the court on the next date of hearing, which is listed on September 26. The lawyer assured it that the former J-K chief minister will attend that hearing. The court had on July 23 issued summons to Abdullah on a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him and others in the JKCA money laundering case.
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Abdullah, the Member of Parliament from Srinagar, has been questioned multiple times by the agency in this case. He was the JKCA president from 2001 to 2012 and the “scam” being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED is about alleged financial misappropriation between 2004 and 2009.
The ED has attached properties worth over Rs 21 crore in the case already. This includes Rs 11.86 crore of immovable assets belonging to Abdullah. The agency claimed that its probe so far has “revealed that Ahsan Ahmad Mirza (former treasurer, JKCA) in connivance with other office-bearers of the JKCA, had misappropriated JKCA funds to the tune of Rs 51.90 crore and utilized proceeds of crime for settling his personal and business liabilities".
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The agency initiated the money laundering probe against the JKCA office-bearers on the basis of a case registered at the Rammunshi Bagh police station in Srinagar. The case was later transferred to the CBI on the high court's directions.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the case against the former JKCA office-bearers for misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 43.69 crore.
