The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at multiple premises, including that of Jharkhand Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal and her family, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the alleged embezzlement of over `18 crore MGNREGA funds in Khunti district during financial years 2008-11.
The searches yielded about `17 crore cash from the premises of a Ranchi-based Chartered Accountant, officials said. The agency has roped in banknote counters to ascertain the exact amount of the recovered cash. Another `1.8 crore cash was separately recovered from a location in Ranchi, they said.
The searches are being conducted under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at about 18 premises in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab, and a few other States, they said.
Premises of Singhal, Secretary of the Department of Mines and Geology of Jharkhand Government, at Ranchi, are also being covered under the search operation.
Singhal is a 2000 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and was posted as the Deputy Commissioner in Khunti district earlier during which the alleged embezzlement of the social sector funds occurred.
A few other locations in Ranchi, including a hospital, were also being searched by the ED officials who were backed by a security contingent of the CRPF.
The searches relate to a money-laundering case in which former junior engineer in Jharkhand Government, Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, was arrested on June 17, 2020 from the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal by the ED after he was booked under PMLA.
To register the PMLA case, the ED took cognisance of 16 FIRs and charge sheets filed by the Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau against Sinha that alleged the accused abused his official position and indulged in embezzlement of Rs 18.06 crore of government funds by way of forgery and misappropriation.
Sinha was earlier booked by the Vigilance Bureau under Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) relating to cheating as also provisions of the Prevention of Corruption for allegedly defrauding public money and investing it in his own name as well as in the name of his family members while working as junior engineer from April 1, 2008 to March 21, 2011.
The said fund was earmarked for execution of Government projects under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme in Khunti district, the ED had earlier said.
The ED had also filed a charge sheet against Sinha in December, 2018 and a special court in Ranchi subsequently issued summons to him for appearance before it which he did not honour, according to an agency statement issued earlier.
The court then issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Sinha on the basis of which a manhunt was launched against him by the ED and he was arrested from his hideout in West Bengal.
A supplementary charge sheet was later filed against him by the agency in August, 2020 after his questioning.
“Accused Ram Binod Prasad Sinha used to regularly transfer Government project funds to his personal accounts as well as in the account of his family members and thus generated illegitimate income out of his criminal misconduct while working as a public servant. It was found that movable and immovable properties have been acquired by the accused (Sinha) in his name as well as in the name of his family members,” the ED had then said.
The ED had earlier attached Sinha’s assets worth Rs 4.28 crore under PMLA.