ED Arrests Chartered Accountant Linked to Jharkhand IAS Officer in Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate detained a chartered accountant on Saturday under the anti-money laundering statute in a case involving suspected MGNREGA funds misappropriation in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, authorities said.

Around 5 p.m. in Ranchi, Suman Kumar was apprehended under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Officials claim that the CA was “evasive in his responses” in response to the reported discovery of Rs 17.79 crore in cash from his Ranchi office on Friday.

They stated he would be sent to a local court and the Enforcement Directorate will request his continued custody.

Kumar, according to the ED, was a financial advisor  to IAS official Pooja Singhal and her family.

During the operations that began on May 6 at several locations in Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal, the federal agency confiscated a total of Rs 19.31 crore in cash. During the search, it also captured Singhal’s preliminary statement.

Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, a former junior engineer in the Jharkhand government, was detained by the ED on June 17, 2020 in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district after being charged under the PMLA.

The Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau filed 16 FIRs and charge sheets against Sinha, alleging that he misused his official position and embezzled Rs 18.06 crore in government funds through forgery and misappropriation.

Sinha was charged by the vigilance bureau in 2017 under criminal sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) relating to cheating and corruption for allegedly defrauding public money and investing it in his own and his family members’ names while working as a junior engineer from April 1, 2008 to March 21, 2011.

According to the agency, the funds would be used to carry out government initiatives in the Khunti area under the MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

Singhal, an IAS official from the 2000 batch, was formerly assigned to the Khunti district as deputy commissioner.

In December 2018, the ED filed a charge sheet against Sinha, and a special court in Ranchi gave him summons to appear before it, which he ignored, according to the agency.

The court subsequently issued a non-bailable warrant for Sinha, prompting the ED to conduct a manhunt for him in West Bengal, where he was apprehended.

Following his interrogation, the agency filed a supplemental charge sheet against him in August of 2020.

According to ED sources, during this interrogation, the agency acquired linkages to alleged illicit mining violations and government money misappropriation.

“Accused Ram Binod Prasad Sinha used to transfer government project monies to his personal accounts and the accounts of his family members on a daily basis, generating illicit income while working as a public official.”

The ED had previously stated, “It was discovered that the accused (Sinha) had purchased movable and immovable properties in his name as well as in the names of his family members.”

The ED also took control of his assets worth Rs 4.28 crore.

After Friday’s raids, investigators said they recovered a number of “incriminating papers” indicating “political and higher bureaucratic linkages with alleged unlawful mining activities in the state.”

ED officers searched a number of other facilities in Ranchi, including a multi-specialty hospital, who were escorted by CRPF forces.

In response to the ED searches, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemat Soren claimed that “the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to establish a new political definition…their purpose is not veiled,” and that the party was “stooping to any level” after losing the state’s electoral war.

Soren was recently sent with a letter by the Election Commission (EC) inquiring about his ownership of a mining lease in the state.

Soren’s accusations were dismissed by the BJP, which said that central agencies operate independently and that the government has zero tolerance for corruption.