The Enforcement Directorate’s multi-city money laundering probe, which led to a raid on Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Nadimul Haque, has reportedly unearthed alleged crypto transactions, Dubai-linked fund flows and discrepancies in the accounts of Urdu daily Akhbar-E-Mashriq, according to sources.
ED investigators are probing alleged diversion of government advertising funds through overseas channels, 307 Bitcoin transfers to private wallets and a ₹1.5-crore cash entry that reportedly had no corresponding physical cash.
THE ED PROBE
According to ED investigations, the routing of state government funds through an intermediary advertising agency into a Dubai-based entity via Islami Bank indicates an international money laundering layer allegedly designed to disguise
the origin of proceeds. Executing 307 unaccounted Bitcoin transactions to private, unhosted wallets represents, according to investigators, illicit integration and concealment of alleged crime proceeds outside regulated banking systems. Artificially inflating circulation figures to secure higher government advertisement revenues allegedly constitutes cheating and criminal breach of trust, generating illegal revenues classified as proceeds of crime. Claiming ₹1.5 crore in cash on hand without physical money to substantiate it demonstrates, according to the ED, falsification of books under Sections 420/477A IPC. Investigators suspect this was a pre-planned cover to justify future unaccounted cash inflows. Disseminating material allegedly promoting communal disharmony and funded by untraceable sources could link scheduled criminal offences under the IPC to money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
THE URDU DAILY
Akhbar-E-Mashriq is a prominent long-standing Urdu daily newspaper published primarily out of Kolkata, along with editions in Delhi and Ranchi.
A print media enterprise provided a convenient front to overstate circulation figures, allowing him to legally claim massive public advertisement revenues and justify illicit cash inflows on company balance sheets, say ED sources.
Operating a publication allowed him to mask illegal financial networks such as foreign funds routed through Dubai/Islami Bank and high-volume Bitcoin trades—under the guise of routine media operations, vendor payments, and operational expenses, say sources.
WHAT ED SOURCES SAY
Investigators are probing the state ad agency that allegedly transferred public funds into overseas accounts in Dubai through Islami Bank channels.
Digital forensics experts are tracing the destination of 307 direct Bitcoin transfers moved into private cold wallets.
Search teams reportedly found zero physical cash corresponding to the ₹1.5 crore reflected on the company’s ledger, indicating, according to investigators, a strategic ploy to cover future unaccounted cash recoveries.
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