Mumbai, May 10: Absconding NRI tele-evangelist Zakir Naik on Friday slammed the Enforcement Director (ED) for alleging that though he had no earnings he had transferred Rs 46 crore in a six-year period.

In a detailed statement, Naik said: "Why is the ED lying? When everyone - including all the government agencies - know that I have multiple businesses and revenue streams and my earnings have always reflected in the tax returns I have filed, why is ED lying about it?" Zakir Naik Says 'Ready to Return If Supreme Court Assures Protection From Arrest Till conviction'.

He sought to know "whether the pressure" is so huge that they (ED) had to resort to lies to achieve the goal set out by "their political bosses".

Naik's rejoinder came two days after the ED filed a chargesheet before the Special PMLA Court's Special Judge M.S. Azmi, accusing him of money-laundering.

According to the ED chargesheet, Naik, an Islamic preacher, keeps travelling around the world with no "known sources" of income and yet he managed to transfer Rs 49.20 crore to his Indian bank accounts and that the total proceeds of the crime were around Rs 193 crore.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 10, 2019 04:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).