Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 90 immovable properties, luxurious vehicles, jewellery & cash worth Rs 51.40 Crore belongs to Ms Ranu Sahu IAS, Suryakant Tiwari, Devender Yadav, MLA, Chandradev Prasad Rai, MLA, R P Singh, Vinod Tiwari and Ram Gopal Agarwal in the illegal Coal levy extortion scam in the State of Chhattisgarh During the investigations, direct evidence of the financial linkages of the above persons with Suryakant Tiwari was established and assets created by layering of the proceeds of crime or equivalent assets have been identified for attachment proceedings under PMLA 2002.
Earlier, ED had attached properties worth Rs 170 Crore belonging to Suryakant Tiwari, Sameer Vishnoi IAS, Ms Saumya Chaurasia (Chhattisgarh Civil Service Officer), Sunil Agarwal & others. Total attachment in this case has reached Rs 221.5 Crore approx.
ED has initiated money laundering investigation based on the FIR lodged on the complaint of Income Tax Department. Searches at more than 145 premises have been conducted and so far 9 accused persons have been arrested under PMLA. All of them are in judicial custody. Prosecution Complaints dated 09.12.2022 & 30.01.2023 have been filed in the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA) against Suryakant Tiwari, Saumya Chaurasia, Sameer Vishnoi IAS and others. ED investigation has established that proceeds of crime worth Rs 540 Crore were acquired in this extortion racket. Further investigation is under progress.
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