The Enforcement Directorate is likely to file a charge sheet against suspended IAS Pooja Singhal in the money laundering case by the first week of July. Agency sources said that scrutiny of evidence and statements is in the final stage and the charge sheet will be filed before July 7.
As per the provisions of the money laundering act, the charge sheet will have to be filed within 60 days of the arrest of the accused. In this case, the ED arrested chartered accountant Suman Singh on May 7, a day after the raid when the ED seized Rs 19.31 Crore from his residence and office. Suman Singh is alleged to be associated with Pooja Singhal and her husband Abhishek Jha. Pooja Singhal was arrested on May 11. Suman Singh is said to have confessed that most of the cash belonged to Pooja Singhal.
The ED conducted raids in Ranchi, Kolkata, Muzaffarpur (Bihar), and Jaipur in Rajasthan against Pooja Singhal, husband Abhishek Jha, CA Suman Singh, former Khunti district employee RK Jain and a few entry operators.
The ED insiders said that other than Pooja Singhal and Suman Singh, the charge sheet is likely to be filed against Abhishek Jha who is the owner of Pulse Hospital. There is a possibility that mining officers of some of the districts may be charge-sheeted who were suspected to be involved in money laundering through illegal mining. Pooja Singh was originally booked by the ED for committing a scam in the MNREGA scheme in the Khunti district. The probe established that she as the mining secretary also remained involved in the corruption.
It is alleged that a part of the unaccounted money she invested in the construction and development of Pulse Hospital. The ED is said to have found that her bank account as well as her husband had an unusual deposit of Rs 1.43 Crore between 2007 and 2010. She purchased as many as 13 life Insurance premiums worth over Rs 80 Lakh. See prematurely terminated Life Insurance and got around Rs 84 Lakh out of this.