Jay in Trouble, BJD Alleges Money Laundering

Bhubaneswar (Reporters Today Bureau): The Biju Janata Dal today attacked BJP National Vice President and former MP Baijayant Jay Panda and his wife Jagi Mangat Panda for their alleged involvement in money laundering case hours after a Delhi-based NGO said in a press conference that the couple have been evading income tax through three shell companies located in Bahamas island.

BJD legislator from Jajpur, Pranab Prakash Das and the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik stated despite the Delhi High Court order for a multi agency probe into money laundering allegations against Baijayant and wife Jagi, no headway in the matter has been registered. They asked whether BJP has been protecting Baijayant, who is National Vice President of the BJP.

Yesterday, speaking to mediapersons at the Press Club of India in New Delhi, Advocate Atul Guleria, a member of the NGO alleged Baijayant and Jagi have been evading income tax through two shell companies located in Bahamas island. The couple was also involved in CSR fund irregularities, the NGO further alleged.

These two Bahamas-based shell companies invested in the companies owned by Baijayant and Jagi in India through the Manjula Devi Trust. The NGO further alleged the shell companies were being controlled by Panda Investment Private Limited and Metro Sky Light Private Limited that were owned by the couple.

It is worth to be mentioned that ‘PATH’ had filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court in February in connection with this. Though the court directed the Centre to probe the matter after taking note of it as a case of ‘money laundering’ in February2019, there is hardly any headway in the investigation. The NGO demanded the Prime Minister’s Office to direct the officials to expedite the probe.

The court ordered for a early completion of a probe into allegations as mentioned in the writ petition.