The corruption case registered by the Ernakulam unit of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in which three persons were arrested for allegedly attempting to swindle Rs 2 crore from a Kollam-based businessman by falsely claiming they could help him drop an Ed investigation against him. has taken a new turn after it emerged that the VACB has arraigned an officer of the ED Kochi unit as the key accused.

The Vigilance(VACB) has made ED Assistant Director Shekhar Kumar the prime accused in the remand report filed by it before the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Special Court while producing the second and the third accused in the case.

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Wilson Varghese, 36, of Thammanam and Mukesh Kumar, 55, of Rajasthan, were arrested by the VACB on Friday. VACB also arrested Ranjith Warrier, a Kochi-based chartered accountant, in the case on Saturday. Reportedly, he shared the details of the businessman with Wilson

The Vigilance has revealed that Shekhar Kumar and the second accused Wilson conspired and embezzled money extensively. The accused demanded a bribe of Rs.2 crore from the complainant, a cashew nut businessman from Kottarakkara.

The businessman, engaged in the export of cashew to an African country, had allegedly suffered heavy financial losses during the pandemic after being defrauded by a foreign client. That led to an inquiry by the ED, during which he was summoned for questioning.

Vigilance officials said that Wilson had approached the businessman around the time and claimed he could use his contacts to help end the ED inquiry. He allegedly instructed the businessman to transfer the money to various bank accounts outside the state and later demanded Rs 2 lakh in cash.

The businessman, suspecting foul play, approached the vigilance department. Acting on their advice, he deposited Rs 50,000 into one of the identified accounts to help investigators track the movement of funds. Later, Wilson insisted that the payment be made in cash, leading to his arrest.