ED moves against Bhujbal, Pawar backs him

Enforcement Directorate today got cracking against NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, facing money laundering and other graft charges, and summoned four persons of a Singapore firm in which a company owned by him has invested, while he received first public support from his party leader Sharad Pawar.
ED issued summonses to four individuals of a Singapore firm, in which a company of Bhujbal has invested, a day after the agency registered two cases under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the NCP leader.
In a related development, the RBI has written to ED, saying the former Maharashtra PWD minister had transferred 5 million USD (around Rs 30 crore) to a Singapore account.

"We had sought information from RBI about Bhujbal transferring money to Singapore's Export Earning Foreign Currency (EEFC) account," an ED official told PTI.
The official said summonses have been sent to the "four individuals of the Singapore-based firm in which Bhujbal's company Armstrong Energy has invested".
The questioning of these four persons will hold key to Bhujbal's money trail -- the source of income, where the money has come from, and where and how it was invested, he said.

"After questioning these persons, we will decide if Bhujbal needs to be called," the official said.
Yesterday, ED had registered two Economic Case Information Reports (ECIR) against Bhujbal and others under PMLA suspecting illegal transactions to the tune of Rs 900 crore in all.

The first pertained to the Maharashtra Sadan scam and Kalina land allotment while the second one was for a housing project at Navi Mumbai wherein its developer, linked to the Bhujbal family, allegedly collected 10 per cent of the flat's total cost as booking amount in 2010 but started no work.
Meanwhile, after maintaining silence for days, NCP chief Sharad Pawar came out in strong defence of the former Deputy Chief Minister, saying investigators are more interested in "publicity" than conducting a "fair" inquiry.
Pawar said the ACB officers are exaggerating the valuation of Bhujbal's properties to the media. "Bhujbal is our colleague and we will stand by him without interfering in the probe. We would help him in every way."

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court today directed the Maharashtra ACB to complete its investigation into corruption charges against Bhujbal, and submit the final report within two months.