ED confirms attachment of Properties worth Rs. 82.7 crores of Pooja Singal IAS under PMLA
ED – confirms – attachment – of – Properties – worth – Pooja – Singal – IAS – PMLA – TAXSCAN
ED – confirms – attachment – of – Properties – worth – Pooja – Singal – IAS – PMLA – TAXSCAN
Department of Enforcement (ED) confirmed the provisional attachment of Pooja Singhal's assets, which includes two Ranchi-based land parcels, two superspecialty hospitals (Pulse Super Specialty Hospital and Pulse Diagnostic and Imaging Centre), and plant and equipment.
The IAS officer was charged by the ED for violating Sections 3 and 4 of the 2002 Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The offence of money laundering is described in Section 3. According to Section 4, anyone found guilty of money laundering faces rigorous imprisonment for 3 years with the possibility of an additional 7 years, along with a fine.
She was suspended from her official position and is presently confined under judicial custody since the Supreme Court rejected her request for relief concerning her bail petition. The police department started a probe into money laundering based on numerous FIRs that the Jharkhand Police & Vigilance Bureau had filed.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MNREGA) Scam Crime trails were discovered to have been deposited in several bank accounts owned by Pooja Singhal and her family, and these cash had also been used to buy or invest in other properties, according to the investigation.
The trails were mixed together and piled with the other unaccounted funds generated by Pooja Singhal, by improperly employing her official role.
Prior to that, on December 1, 2022, the Enforcement Department temporarily attached these immovable assets worth Rs. 82.77 crore that belonged to Pooja Singhal, an IAS, and others in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The department has now confirmed the same.
The IAS officer was arrested by ED and a Complaint was filed against her and 6 others for committing offence of money laundering. During investigation, ED searched at various premises belonging to Pooja Singhal and her associates.
During the course of such search proceedings, cash of Rs 19.76 Crore was unearthed and seized. Retention of the seized cash along with other seized items was allowed by the Adjudicating Authority. The investigation is still going on.
Recently, the ED has provisionally attached properties of Ranu Sahu IAS and others including two MLAs in the illegal Coal levy extortion scam in the State of Chhattisgarh. In accordance with a probe conducted by the ED, the extortion tactics yielded Rs 540 crore in criminal advancement.
It is highly lamentable that government employees abuse their position of responsibility to commit such egregious mistakes.
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