Suspended Jharkhand IAS officer Pooja Singhal was paid "commission" by the subordinate staff from MGNREGA funds of Khunti district which she and her husband subsequently utilised for acquiring various properties.
“Investigation by ED revealed that the commission was paid to Pooja Singhal (IAS) who was then Deputy Commissioner of the District Khunti by Ram Binod Sinha and other Engineers, in respect of the sanctioning of funds,” the agency said in a statement.
The allegations against the former Jharkhand mining secretary have come after a special PMLA court in Ranchi took cognizance of a chargesheet filed against her and five others on July 5.
The charge sheet names Singhal, a 2000-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, her businessman husband Abhishek Jha, government officers like Executive Engineers Jai Kishore Chaudhary and Shashi Prakash besides Assistant Engineer R K Jain and the Chartered Accountant of the Singhal couple, Suman Kumar.
The bureaucrat and CA Suman Kumar were arrested by the ED in this case that is linked to alleged irregularities in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds when Singhal was the Deputy Commissioner of Khunti.
Another accused arrested by the agency earlier, former Junior Engineer Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, was posted in that district.
"The accused- Pooja Singhal and her husband Abhishek Jha- have also deposited huge amounts of cash in their bank accounts during the period of scheduled offence which was subsequently utilised for the purpose of acquisition of various properties," the agency alleged.
CA Suman Kumar was found to be involved in the "collection of illicit money on behalf of Pooja Singhal," the agency said.
"The accused have also invested huge proceeds of crime acquired by Pooja Singhal, IAS, in various immovable properties."
The ED had searched the premises of Singhal and others in May and the IAS officer, who was holding the charge of Jharkhand Mining Secretary, was suspended by the State government following her arrest by the ED.