ED closes laundering case against Ramdev aide Balkrishna

New Delhi, Sep 30: The Enforcement Directorate has closed a two-year-old money laundering case against yoga guru Ramdev's close aide Balkrishna after finding no evidence against him relating to generation of alleged crime proceeds.

The agency had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Balkrishna in 2012 on charges of alleged laundering of funds on account of travels and investments made abroad using a purported forged passport.

The ED case was based on an earlier CBI FIR which alleged that Balkrishna had violated rules of the Passport Act and forged his documents.

"The ED found that there was no evidence vis-a-vis charges of money laundering against the person. The agency's office in Dehradun has filed a closure in the case," an official source said.

The agency suspected that Balkrishna, who has been looking after various trusts run by Ramdev for a long time, could have parked the alleged laundered money abroad using the forged passport as claimed by CBI.

Sources said the financial documents and information gathered by the ED in this case do not show any wrongdoing on part of Balkrishna or illegal investments made by him and hence he was given a clean chit.

The CBI had registered a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy against Balkrishna on July 23, 2011 for allegedly procuring fake degree and violating Section 12 of Indian Passport Act by furnishing fake and forged high school and graduation certificates to the passport authorities for obtaining the document.

PTI