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K Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has been arrested in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused her of wiping clean eight mobile phones that may have had evidence and booking into an Rs 10 lakh room at a five-star hotel.
The ED has also accused Ms Kavitha of conspiring with the 'South group' to pay Delhi's ruling AAP Rs 100 crore in exchange for liquor licenses. She has also been accused of plotting to acquire a stake in Indo Spirits, which received a wholesale license for the Rs 100 crore payment, and benefitted from the 12 percent profit margin, eventually making Rs 192.8 crore profit till the policy was scrapped.
The ED claims that these kickbacks were paid in exchange for undue favors, such as ensuring stakes for the 'South group' in different LIs, directing the biggest manufacturer, i.e., Pernod Ricard, to the wholesaler of the 'South group,' and allowing holding of multiple retail zones.
The ED also alleges that the 'kickback' - Rs 100 crore - was then transferred to Goa (allegedly to be used for the AAP's election expenses) via illegal routes and are thus 'proceeds of crime.' The agency said access to Pernod Ricard India's stocks resulted in artificially high profits.
The agency has further claimed that Ms Kavitha and other 'South group' members, including Sameer Mahendru, 'actively participated in the formation of Indo Spirits as a vehicle to recoup and launder proceeds of crime.'
All of this, the ED has alleged, caused a direct loss of Rs 581 crore to the Delhi government.
In a fresh 177-page chargesheet filed Monday afternoon, in which Ms Kavitha was listed as Accused No 32, the federal agency said she had submitted eight phones - two iPhone 13 Mini, two iPhone 13, two iPhone 13, and two iPhone 14 Pro. The ED said the BRS leader was asked if she had formatted any of these devices or removed any data, to which the agency said she replied in the negative.
The ED later confronted Ms Kavitha with a forensic report that said at least one of the devices had, in fact, been formatted. She, the agency said, once again denied she had tampered with the phone.
Pressed on the subject she became evasive, the Enforcement Directorate declared.
The chargesheet was filed shortly after a city court extended her stay in judicial custody till July 3.
Last week both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation - she was arrested by the CBI in April while in jail - denied her bail pleas in money laundering cases linked to the alleged liquor scam.
Both agencies called Ms Kavitha a 'highly powerful' individual, one able to influence witnesses and, potentially, corrupt evidence, and firmly rejected the call she be given bail because of her gender.
The CBI argued Ms Kavitha is 'not just a woman, but a very influential woman,' and pointed to claims she had previously threatened one witness. The ED stressed the BRS leader is a co-conspirator and beneficiary of the alleged scam, and claimed proceeds of the crime were going directly to her.
Releasing her would affect the inquiry into a 'deep-rooted, multi-layered conspiracy,' they said.
Ms Kavitha was arrested from her home in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills on March 15.
In her bail plea, the BRS leader, the daughter of ex-Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, has denied any connection to the excise policy, and claimed a criminal conspiracy 'orchestrated by the ruling party at the center (the BJP) with active connivance of the Enforcement Directorate'.
Source: K Kavitha Destroyed 9 Phones, Stayed In Rs 10 Lakh Hotel Room: Probe Agency