India
HDFC Bank blocked my account over 2-year-old ED case news report: Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale claimed on Wednesday that HDFC Bank blocked his account following a news article about a case the Enforcement Directorate filed against him two years ago.
In a post on the social media platform X, Gokhale, a Rajya Sabha MP, stated that an HDFC Bank representative called him to inform him about the account block.
When Gokhale asked why, the representative reportedly cited a Times of India report on an ED case against him. Gokhale responded by saying that the case was from two years ago, as reported by Scroll.in
The case involves allegations that Gokhale raised over Rs 72 lakh from more than 1,700 people through a crowdfunding platform called “Our Democracy” and allegedly used the funds for personal expenses. The Gujarat Police registered a first information report against him in December 2022, which led to the Enforcement Directorate filing a money laundering case.
On August 13, the Enforcement Directorate announced that a special court in Ahmedabad had framed criminal charges against Gokhale under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a development widely covered by the media.
Gokhale also mentioned that he asked the HDFC Bank representative whether there were any official orders to block his account. The representative replied that there were no such orders, but they had blocked the account after seeing the news report.
