Kochi: The Kollam-based businessman, who is the complainant in the bribery case in which a top official of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and three others have been booked, on Sunday came out revealing what could be key evidence of the illegal nexus between the accused official and middlemen.

Aneesh Babu, who runs a cashew export-import firm, said the ED office contacted him on the phone number he had used to call Wilson Varghese, one of the accused from Thammanam, Kochi, who introduced himself as an ‘ED agent’.

Wilson was arrested by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Friday while accepting Rs 2 lakh from Aneesh as he fell into a trap set by the police wing. Following this, his co-accused Mukeshkumar from Rajasthan and Renjith Warrier, a Kochi-based chartered accountant, were arrested.

The case is that Wilson contacted Aneesh seeking a bribe of Rs 2 crore on behalf of Shekhar Kumar, assistant director of the ED Kochi unit, to get him off a probe relating to alleged money laundering in a 2024 case.

“I had never given my personal number to the ED office. I had given my wife’s number as primary contact and my mother’s as an alternative number to the agency. The agency used to contact my wife to communicate matters relating to the investigation. However, on April 13, 2025, Wilson contacted my mother and mentioned the ED case.

“Then my wife contacted him using her number and asked him how he got my mother’s number. He refused to communicate with her as she sounded furious. Later in the day, I contacted him from my number, and he told me about the possibility of settling the case. Next month, I received a call on the same number from an ED official to inform me about a summons they issued. I believe the official got my number from Wilson only,” Aneesh told Onmanorama over the phone.

He said he does not know the name of the official who called him, but he introduced himself as an enforcement officer under Sekhar Kumar. Aneesh said all the calls he mentioned, except the first one from Wilson to his mother, were through WhatsApp.

Earlier on Sunday, Aneesh spoke to the media in Kochi and provided details of his interactions with Wilson. He said he met Wilson first near the JLN stadium, Kaloor, after the WhatsApp calls. Wilson approached Aneesh, asking if he was willing to accept a settlement to escape the investigation.

Aneesh said he met Wilson 5-6 times in one and a half months. Wilson convinced Aneesh of his ED links by allegedly getting a summons issued by Shekhar Kumar, as he mentioned in a conversation. As per the notice, Aneesh had to appear before the ED on May 14.

However, Wilson instructed Aneesh to convey his inability to turn up for questioning on that day and promised to get the summons postponed to another date. Aneesh said he was not contacted by the ED after Wilson sensed that he was ready for ‘settling’ the matter.

Aneesh said the ED officials who questioned him on earlier occasions behaved in a threatening manner. He claimed innocence in the allegation of money laundering and said he decided to approach the Vigilance as he did not want to pay money to the ED officials to evade investigation.

He had earlier approached the Supreme Court seeking anticipatory bail, and the apex court had restricted the agency from arresting him for 14 days. Wilson approached him as the 14-day relief was nearing an end.

The ED’s allegation is that Aneesh has illegally invested money in businesses in Tanzania. VACB Ernakulam SP on Sunay said the further action in the case will be taken after questioning the three accused in the police custody.