The ED attaches properties worth Rs 82.77 crore linked to an officer in Jharkhand
A money laundering case involving jailed Jharkhand IAS officer Pooja Singhal has led the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to attach multiple properties worth Rs 82.77 crore.
When Singhal was Deputy Commissioner in Khunti in 2009-2010, she was accused of defrauding the MGNREGA program.
There were seizures of one super specialty hospital (Pulse Super Specialty Hospital), one diagnostic center (Pulse Diagnostic and Imaging Centre) and two parcels of land in Ranchi, according to an ED spokesperson.
In May, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Singhal, an IAS officer from the 2000 batch and the Mining Secretary for Jharkhand, on charges of money laundering related to alleged irregularities in the MGNREGA program. Currently, she is in judicial custody.
A chargesheet was filed against her in July, followed by two supplementary prosecution complaints (chargesheets).
Police and the Vigilance Bureau of Jharkhand filed an FIR against Singhal and others in connection with allegations of money laundering.
The investigation revealed that commissions generated from the MNREGA scam were deposited into different bank accounts belonging to Singhal and her relatives. Singhal’s proceeds were mixed in with other unaccounted funds generated by him, according to the spokesperson.
The source of funds invested in these immovable properties was primarily generated from unaccounted cash profits generated from these proceeds of crime. Pooja Singhal accumulated enormous wealth that was disproportional to her known source of income.
Singhal served as deputy commissioner, of Khunti, between 2009 and 2010. A number of irregularities have been alleged against her during the period 2007-2013, according to ED sources. During that time period, Pooja Singhal and Abhishek Jha held huge cash deposits to the tune of Rs 1.43 crore in their bank accounts. As the ED had told the court previously, the cash deposited in the different financial years exceeded the salary.
