ED attaches properties worth Rs 82.77 cr linked to Jharkhand officer

ED attaches properties worth Rs 82.77 cr linked to Jharkhand officer

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached multiple properties worth Rs 82.77 crore linked to jailed Jharkhand IAS officer Pooja Singhal in a money laundering case.

Singhal was accused of being involved in the alleged diversion of MGNREGA funds during her tenure as Deputy Commissioner in Khunti in 2009-2010.

An ED spokesperson said one super speciality hospital (Pulse Super Speciality Hospital), one diagnostic centre (Pulse Diagnostic and Imaging Centre) and two land parcels in Ranchi were seized.

In May, the ED had arrested Singhal, a 2000-batch IAS officer who was the Jharkhand Mining Secretary, on money laundering charges linked to alleged irregularities in the MGNREGA scheme. She is currently in judicial custody.

The agency filed a chargesheet against her in July, followed by two supplementary prosecution complaints (chargesheets).

The money laundering case against Singhal and others stems from an FIR by the Jharkhand police and Vigilance Bureau.

“Investigation found that proceeds of the crime generated from the MNREGA scam in the form of commission was deposited in different bank accounts belonging to Singhal and her relatives. These proceeds were mixed and layered with other unaccounted money generated by Singhal,” the spokesperson said.

“Pooja Singhal amassed huge wealth disproportionate to her known source of income and source of funds invested in these immovable properties were primarily from the unaccounted cash profits generated from these proceeds of crime.

Singhal was deputy commissioner, Khunti, in 2009-2010. ED sources said there were many charges of irregularities against her during 2007-2013. “The (bank) accounts of Pooja Singhal and Abhishek Jha have huge cash deposits to the tune of Rs 1.43 crore during the period. The cash deposited in different financial years were over and above the salary,” the ED had told the court earlier.