ED summons Nawazuddin Siddiqui, brother in online fraud case

Barely had the row over his book died down than Nawazuddin Siddiqui finds himself embroiled in another controversy with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of the Union revenue department summoning him and his brother Shamas Nawab in connection with an online fraud case.

While Nawazuddin Siddiqui could not go to the directorate's office today, his brother visited the ED's zonal office in Lucknow with his lawyer to give his statement.

A report on Outlook magazine's website quoted Shamas Nawab as saying, “All allegations against us are false. We have shown our papers and mails to the authorities.”

Siddiqui's name cropped up after the investigation into a ponzi online scheme led to links between one firm, Webwork Trade Links, and the actor. Siddiqui is said to have received Rs1.15 crore for an endorsement deal.

Ruling out foul play, Shamas Nawab said, “We recorded statements in which we were asked why he took so much money. Every artiste does that, they charge their fees. We had done ads for adsguru.com. Now their parent company [Webwork] has [allegedly] committed a fraud.”