The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Jharkhand Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal for questioning on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering case, in which a chartered accountant was arrested following seizure of about ₹18 crore in cash last week.
On Monday, the agency recorded the statement of Ms. Singhal’s husband Abhishek Jha for the second consecutive day. Earlier, it had arrested chartered accountant Suman Kumar after about ₹17.80 crore in cash was seized during the searches in the same case. He was produced before a Ranchi special court which sent him to five-day custody of the agency.
The ED’s probe is based on 16 cases and the respective chargesheets alleging MGNREGA funds fraud, submitted by the State’s vigilance bureau. During the investigation, the agency has also filed chargesheets against the then junior engineer, Ram Binod Prasad, who in his statement alleged that he had paid a cut to the district administration.
From 2007 to 2013, Ms. Singhal was posted as a District Collector/District Magistrate in Jharkhand’s Chatra, Khunti and Palamu.
According to the agency, the bank accounts of Ms. Singhal and her husband had cash deposits to the tune of ₹1.43 crore during the check period. She allegedly bought 13 life insurance policies from 2005-06 till 2012-13 and paid ₹80.81 lakh as premium. The policies were later closed prematurely and about ₹84.44 lakh received.
The ED has alleged that Ms. Singhal paid over ₹16 lakh to three accounts linked to the chartered accountant from May 2015 to September 2017. While seeking his remand, the agency had accused him of withholding information about the sources of the cash seized from his premises.
As part of the probe, the ED may also look into the immovable assets linked to Ms. Singhal’s husband.
