ED attaches properties of IAS officer in money laundering case

In a major crackdown against money laundering by a top bureaucrat, Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached the movable and immovable properties of a senior IAS officer, who served as Patna District Magistrate.
The ED has attched the property of Pradeep Kumar, former Patna DM, and currently working as Commissioner of Santhal Pargana in Jharkhand government, Patna zonal office of ED said today in a release.
The property has been valued at Rs 1.80 crore, the ED office said.
The immovable properties which the ED attached included one flat at Ranchi and one house at Udaipur registered in the name of Pradeep Kumar while Kumar bought one plot at Bengaluru and another house at Udaipur along with his brother Rajendra Kumar and a flat in Kolkata which was registered in the name of Nand Lal HUF and Shyamlal Chakravarty, it said.

The attached movable properties included fixed deposits worth Rs 42.97 lakh in the name of Nand Lal HUF and Rs 39.85 lakh in various bank accounts held in his name and his family members.
The ED initiated investigation under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of chargesheet filed by the CBI which filed three FIRs - two in 2009 and another in 2011.
Kumar, a 1991 batch IAS officer, worked in Bihar till the formation of Jharkhand, the release added.
The ED, in its investigation, found evidence of money laundering since 1998, it said.