Trinamool Congress bank accounts with Rs 4.4bn frozen over ‘money laundering’

The party is already embroiled in an existential crisis amid a stunning rebellion within its ranks since the assembly election debacle

In the latest blow for Mamata Banerjee, Indian authorities have frozen three Trinamool Congress (TMC) bank accounts with deposits worth Rs 4.4 billion amid investigations into alleged money laundering.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the HDFC Bank accounts were frozen under the anti-money laundering law on Wednesday, reports NDTV.

According to the economic intelligence agency, large-scale suspicious financial transactions were carried out from the party funds.

The ED is now probing the transactions after allegations of money laundering and misuse of funds surfaced. It will take further action based on the findings.

The party, however, did not make any immediate reaction.

This marks the latest setback for the party, which has been embroiled by rebellion since the last assembly election debacle.

The ED previously raided five locations in Delhi-NCR, a metropolitan expanse surrounding the Indian capital, as part of the investigation.

All the locations were allegedly linked to the Carewell Group of Companies, a Sydney-based conglomerate in the aviation sector.

Investigators said Rs 1.6 billion had been transferred from the accounts to Carewell Aviation India Private Limited and another company associated with it between April 2023 and June 2026.

After that, Carewell Aviation reportedly sent about Rs 0.82 billion to the accounts of a newly formed related company.

ED officials said Rs 1.12 billion had been spent to purchase Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and Agusta 109 SP helicopter.

Some foreign funding was used to purchase an Agusta helicopter, while TMC financed the rest, they added.

The investigators are now looking for the source of the foreign funds and checking whether any rules were violated in the process.

The TMC took lease of the aircraft and spent “a huge amount of money” to use those, they said, describing the entire financial structure as “highly suspicious”, which they suspect may have been designed to “hide the real transactions and beneficiaries”.

On Jun 12, former TMC treasurer Aroop Biswas wrote to the manager of HDFC Bank in Kolkata for an immediate freeze on the operation of the accounts.

He referred to a dispute over the authority and control of the All India Trinamool Congress at that time.

The Deccan Herald citing a 2024-25 audit report said the party has assets worth Rs 10.81 billion.

Of that amount, Rs 6.25 billion is in bank accounts, Rs 2.50 billion is in investments and Rs 0.50 billion is in cheques.