Karnataka: ED files charge sheet against 18 people in Aishwarya Gowda 'fraud' case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has filed a charge sheet against 18 persons including Aishwarya Gowda, a Karnataka-based woman who is alleged to have cheated a number of people by threatening and claiming proximity to “high profile” politicians.

The prosecution complaint was filed on June 21 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Bengaluru, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

It had recently attached assets worth Rs 3.98 crore in this case.

Congress leader D K Suresh, the younger brother of Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar, was also questioned by the ED in this case on Monday in Bengaluru.

The ED had arrested 33-year-old Gowda in April following searches against her, Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni and some others. Kulkarni had denied wrongdoing.

The money laundering case against Gowda, her husband Harish K N and some others stems from multiple FIRs filed by Karnataka Police against them.

The allegation in the FIRs is that Gowda, her husband and others have entered into a “criminal conspiracy” to defraud and cheat several individuals by taking gold, cash and funds through bank accounts promising high rate of returns, the agency had said.

However, it said, that the accused neither returned the money nor gave the promised return and also “threatened” the investors of dire consequences in case of further pursuance of the matter by “claiming her proximity to various high profile politicians”.

Gowda is alleged to have used the name of D K Suresh, a former MP, and claimed to be his sister. Suresh had denied knowing her and filed a police complaint against her.