New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (September 2) said it has provisionally attached assets valued at Rs 13.34 crore belonging to RJD Rajya Sabha MP Amarendra Dhari Singh in a money laundering case connected to an alleged fertiliser scam and payment of kickbacks around Rs 685 crore.
The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of FIR registered on May 17, 2021 by the CBI under the provisions of IPC, 1860 & PC Act, 1988, against U.S Awasthi, MD and others, for criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct.
"FDR (fixed deposit receipts) valued at Rs 13.34 crore belonging to Amarendra Dhari Singh, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering on August 31 in ongoing investigations against U S Awasthi (IFFCO Managing Director and CEO) and others," the ED said in a statement.
ED had arrested the 61-year-old MP, also a senior vice president of a Dubai-based firm Jyoti Trading Corporation, in this case in June, who is currently on bail.
The money laundering investigation conducted by ED has revealed that there had been siphoning off funds amounting to Rs 27.79 crore related to criminal activities. “Such proceeds of crime were laundered by way of projecting the same as consultancy income, first in the hands of entities under the control of Dubai-based Chartered Accountant Rajiv Saxena (an accused in Augusta Westland case) and subsequently in the hands of entities controlled by India based Chartered Accountant Alok Kumar Agarwal and thereafter in the form of cash to Amarendra Dhari Singh,” the agency alleged.
Based on the investigation conducted so far, POC has been quantified to the tune of Rs 27.79 crore, which had been used by Amarendra Dhari Singh on his own, the ED said.
The central agency had earlier filed a prosecution complaint before a Special Court on July 30, 2021, against six accused including Amarendra Dhari Singh and Alok Kumar Agarwal. The court had said that all accused persons knowingly assisted/were knowingly involved in acquisition of proceeds of crime and hence were liable to be summoned for the said offence and proceeded to issue summons to the accused persons.
Earlier, ED had attached movable assets (FDRs) valued at Rs 14.45 crore on July 30, 2021, thus bringing the total value of provisional attachment in this case to Rs 27.79 crore so far.
