ED attaches assets in money laundering case against YouTuber Elvish Yadav, others
Lucknow, Sep 26: The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation against YouTuber Siddharth Yadav alias Elvish Yadav and some others, official sources said Thursday.
A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued, they said.
Yadav has been questioned by the federal agency in a case related to suspected use of snake venom as recreational drugs in parties he hosted and related financial transactions.
The central agency had registered a case in May and pressed charges under the PMLA after taking cognisance of an FIR and charge sheet filed against him and linked persons by the Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) district police in Uttar Pradesh.
Rahul Yadav alias Rahul Fazilpuriya, a singer from Haryana who allegedly has links to Elvish Yadav, was also questioned by the ED in the said case.
Alleged generation of proceeds of crime and use of illicit funds for organising rave or recreational parties is under the scanner of the ED.
Elvish Yadav was arrested on March 17 by the Noida police in connection with its probe into suspected use of snake venom as a recreational drug in parties that were allegedly hosted by him.
The controversial YouTuber, also the winner of reality show Bigg Boss OTT 2, was booked under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Wildlife Protection Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Noida police.
Yadav was among the six people named in the FIR lodged at Noida's Sector 49 police station on November 3 last year on a complaint from a representative of animal rights NGO People for Animals (PFA).
Five other accused, all snake charmers, were arrested in November and they were later given bail by a local court.
The five snake charmers were arrested from a banquet hall in Noida on November 3 last year and nine snakes, including five cobras, rescued from their possession, while 20 ml of suspected snake venom was also seized.
However, police had said Yadav was not present at the banquet hall and they were probing his role in the case that allegedly involved the use of snake venom as a recreational drug.
In April, the Noida police filed an over 1,200-page charge sheet in the case. The charges included are snake trafficking, use of psychotropic substances and organising rave parties, police had said.
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Canada is already examining tariffs on certain US items following Trump's tariff threat
Toronto (AP/PTI): Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official has said.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries don't stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across southern and northern borders. He said he would impose a 25 per cent tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
But Trump posted Wednesday evening on Truth Social that he had a "wonderful conversation" with new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and she "agreed to stop Migration through Mexico".
"Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!" Trump posted.
It was unclear what impact the conversation will have on Trump's plan to impose tariffs.
In Canada, a government official said on Wednesday that Canada is preparing for every eventuality and has started thinking about what items to target with tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed no decision has been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly.
When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the US in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Many of the US products were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada imports USD 3 million worth of yogurt from the US annually and most comes from one plant in Wisconsin, home state of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan. That product was hit with a 10 per cent duty.
Another product on the list was whiskey, which comes from Tennessee and Kentucky, the latter of which is the home state of then-Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump made the threat Monday while railing against an influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at Canadian border pale in comparison to the southern border.
The US Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone — and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024.
Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but say they are ready to make new investments in border security and work with the Trump administration to lower the numbers from Canada. The Canadians are also worried about a influx north of migrants if Trump follows through with his plan for mass deportations.
Trump also railed about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures from the Canadian border pale in comparison to the Mexican border. US customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
Canadian officials argue their country is not the problem and that tariffs will have severe implications for both countries.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Nearly USD 3.6 billion Canadian (USD 2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60 per cent of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85 per cent of US electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a emergency virtual meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of Canada's provinces. He stressed they need to present a united front.
"I don't want to minimize for a moment the gravity of the challenge we now face," Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said. "Now is really a moment for us not to squabble amongst ourselves."
The provincial premiers want Trudeau to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States that excludes Mexico.
Sheinbaum, Mexico's president, said earlier Wednesday that her administration is already working up a list of possible retaliatory tariffs "if the situation comes to that."
She later said she talked to Trump and had "an excellent conversation".
