ED issues notice to Misa Bharti, husband Shailesh in PMLA case

NEW DELHI: In another tense day for RJD chief Lalu Prasad's family, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued notice to his daughter Misa Bharti and son-in-law Shailesh Kumar in the Ghitorni farmhouse purchase case. The ED had sought certain documents of the land deals from Misa and Shailesh which the couple failed to submit. Now the agency has asked Misa and Shailesh to submit the documents by Friday evening. On July 8, the central probe agency had raided three Delhi premises of Bharti, Shailesh and a firm allegedly linked to them in the money laundering probe involving shell companies. Shell companies are firms set up with nominal paid up capital, high reserves and surplus on account of receipt of high share premium, investment in unlisted companies and no dividend income or high amount of cash-in-hand. Three farmhouses of Bharti, her husband and one registered in the name of Mishail Printers and Packers Private Limited were searched by the ED. Misa and Shailesh are reported to have links to Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited, a front supposedly used to purchase benami farmhouses in Delhi. The ED had arrested Rajesh Kumar Agarwal, a chartered accountant close to Misa and Shailesh, on May 22.

 (With inputs from agencies)