Page 54 - Enforcement Directorate

Bengal school jobs scam: ED conducts raids in Kolkata for over 12 hours

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided eight places in and around Kolkata in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in recruitment in state-run and-aided schools of West Bengal, a senior officer said. The raids, which started around 6.30 am, ended in phases in the evening and the final one at around 10 pm. The searches were conducted at the residences, offices and bungalows of those who allegedly "acted as middlemen" in the scam, he said. "These middlemen used to collect money and transfer it to various addresses. We are conducting raids at the residences and offices used by them," the ED officer told PTI. Accompanied by a huge number of central forces, the ED officers started search operations at New Town and Nayabad on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, and Mukundapur in the south, he said, adding that family members of the alleged middlemen were also questioned. The officer said one of the "middlemen" was very close to former Bengal minister Partha ...

ED summons 'illegal', BJP wants to stop me from campaigning: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the ED summonses issued to him were "illegal" and part of a political conspiracy to stop him from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He alleged that the entire exercise of serving him summons was being carried out to arrest him before the high-octane polls, expected in April-May. The chief minister said he was issued a summons by the Enforcement Directorate last week for the fourth time, and asked him to appear before the agency on January 18 or January 19. "The BJP is running the ED. They only intend to arrest me so that I cannot campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," he said. Kejriwal said he had sent his reply to the central agency. "The four notices sent me are illegal in the eyes of the law. Such general, non-specific notices have been quashed in the past by the courts. I have repeatedly written to the ED saying the notices are illegal but they have not replied to me," he told reporters on the sidelines

Why send summons if I am not accused in excise policy case: Kejriwal to ED

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has replied to the ED, asking why summonses were issued to him if he was not an accused in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, the AAP said on Thursday. Kejriwal was issued a summons by the Enforcement Directorate last week for the fourth time and asked to appear before the agency on Thursday. The Aam Aadmi Party alleged that the BJP wants Kejriwal to be arrested so that he cannot campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "This is being done to stop him from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. ED has said that Kejriwal is not an accused, then why were the summons issued to him," the party said. The AAP also said their leaders are not involved in corruption and will never join the BJP.

ACB raids Sena (UBT) MLA's premises; files 'disproportionate assets' case

The Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday conducted raids at multiple premises of Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Rajan Salvi in Ratnagiri district, and filed a case against him and his two family members for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets, an official said. The raids were conducted by a team of the ACB's Thane unit at five premises belonging to Salvi in the coastal district, he said. Salvi is a three-time legislator representing the Rajapur assembly constituency. He belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena. According to the official, Salvi, his wife and son amassed assets to the tune of Rs 3.53 crore, which are allegedly disproportionate to their known sources of income. An offence under sections 13 (1) (B) and 13 (2) under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Salvi, his wife and son, he said.

ED conducts raids at seven places in Kolkata in Bengal school jobs scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday started conducting raids simultaneously at seven places in and around Kolkata in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in recruitment in schools of West Bengal, a senior officer said. Raids are being held at the residences and offices of those who allegedly "acted as middlemen" in the scam, he said. "These middlemen used to collect money and transfer it to various addresses. We are conducting raids at residences and offices used by them," the ED officer told PTI. Accompanied by a huge number of central forces, the ED officers started search operations at New Town and Nayabad on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, he said. Family members of the alleged middlemen are being questioned, he said, adding that ED officers are yet to enter one of the offices of a middleman since it was closed.

ED questions former Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda in money laundering case

Former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was on Wednesday questioned by the ED in connection with a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in land acquisition at Manesar during 2004-07, official sources said. The agency recorded the statement of the 76-year-old Hooda under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The Enforcement Directorate probe pertains to "illegal" acquisition of land in Haryana's Manesar between 2004 and 2007 with the alleged connivance of senior government functionaries and bureaucrats. Several farmers and land owners had alleged that they had been cheated to the tune of about Rs 1,500 crore in this land acquisition case. The agency had filed a PMLA case in the alleged land scam deal in September, 2016 on the basis of a Haryana Police FIR. The CBI too is probing the case.

JMM workers block roads, shut shops in Jharkhand against ED summons to CM

JMM workers took to the streets in Jharkhand's Sahebganj district on Wednesday to enforce the nine-hour district bandh called to protest the ED summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. Raising slogans against central probe agencies, the ruling party workers halted traffic and forced shops to down shutters in various parts of Sahebganj city and other parts of the district including Barhait, the assembly constituency of the chief minister. The ED had on January 13 sent a letter to the chief minister, asking him to be available for questioning in the case between January 16 and January 20, sources said. In reply, Soren told the ED it can record his statement on January 20. JMM's Sahebganj district president Shahjahan Ansari claimed that the bandh is being observed peacefully across the district with the cooperation of the people in the district. He said that the bandh has been called from 8 am to 5 pm. Emergency

India's top team to hasten extradition of Mallya, Nirav Modi in UK: Report

The Indian team will be headed by a senior officer from the MEA. Some meetings have also been scheduled with UK officials to seek pending information on the seized assets of the wanted fugitives

ED attaches assets worth over Rs 30 cr of Kerala realty group promoter

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 30 crore of the promoter of a Kerala-based realty group and concerns linked to him as part of a money-laundering investigation connected to an alleged bank loan fraud case. A total of 62 immovable properties belonging to Heera Construction Company Private Limited, its managing director Abdul Rasheed, his trust Heera Educational and Charitable Trust and sister company Heera Summer Holiday Homes Private Limited have been attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the central agency said in a statement. The total value of these properties is Rs 30.28 crore, it added. Heera Constructions Company Private Limited, Rasheed and the other accused cheated the State Bank of India's Kowdiar branch in Thiruvananthapuram by "fraudulently" selling the primary and collateral securities mortgaged with the bank and also "defrauded" in the repayment of loans, the ED ...

Raj: ED searches premises linked to ex-minister in Jal Jeevan Mission case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday searched premises linked to former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi and some others in a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission, official sources said. Last year, the federal agency had conducted at least two rounds of raids in the case related to the central government programme. The locations linked to Joshi, a former minister of the public health engineering (PHE) department, are being searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. Joshi was denied a ticket by the Congress to contest from the Hawa Mahal seat in Jaipur in the recently held assembly polls in the state. The agency had earlier claimed that several middlemen and property dealers "aided" officials of the Rajasthan government's PHE department to siphon off "illegally earned" money from the Jal Jeevan Mission. Probe found that contractors were involved in securing tenders pertaining to Ja

CM Soren asks ED to record statement at his office in land scam case

ED had issued Soren the eighth summon on Saturday, asking him to join the investigation between January 16 to 20

Mahadev app case: ED makes two fresh arrests in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two more persons in connection with its money laundering investigation into the Mahadev online betting and gaming app case, officials said on Saturday. Nitin Tibrewal, a resident of Kolkata, and Raipur-based Amit Agrawal were taken into custody under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and produced before a special court here on Friday, ED lawyer Saurabh Pandey said. The court sent them to ED custody till January 17, he said. Tibrewal is the majority shareholder of Techpro IT Solutions Ltd, a company that was acting as a "front" for Mahadev Online Book (Mahadev app) and investing the proceeds of crime generated out of illegal operations in India by way of foreign portfolio investment, the ED said in a statement. He "tried to conceal this fact despite multiple opportunities granted to him. He also did not reveal his foreign bank accounts and assets before the ED which have been discovered during the course of ...

ED arrests 5 people in money laundering case linked to Rajasthan paper leak

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has arrested five people as part of its money laundering investigation into an alleged teacher recruitment exam paper leak case in Rajasthan. Suresh Kumar alias Suresh Sau, Vijay Damore, Peeraram, Pukhraj, and Arun Sharma were taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on January 11, the agency said. They were sent to three-day ED custody by a special PMLA court in Jaipur, it said in a statement. The probe pertains to alleged paper leak case of senior teacher 2nd grade competitive examination, 2022 in Rajasthan. Former Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member Babulal Katara and two other persons identified as Anil Kumar Meena and Bhupendra Saran were earlier arrested by the ED in this case. Arun Sharma provided 29 candidates (for whom leaked papers were arranged and who were appearing for the said competitive examination) to Anil Kumar Meena in lieu of Rs 2 lakh per candidate, th

ED makes two fresh arrests in Mahadev betting app money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two more persons in connection with its money laundering investigation into the Mahadev online betting and gaming app case, officials said on Saturday. Nitin Tibrewal and Amit Agrawal were taken into custody under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and produced before a special court in Raipur on Friday, ED lawyer Saurabh Pandey said. The court sent them to ED custody till January 17, he said. Tibrewal is alleged to be a "close associate" of an accused in the case, Vikash Chapparia. He is alleged to have purchased some "undisclosed" properties in Dubai and a majority shareholder in an FPI company in which Chapparia is also a shareholder, ED sources said. The agency suspects these assets were bought using the "proceeds of crime" generated from the profits of Mahadev app. Amit Agrawal, the sources said, is a relative of another accused in the case, Anil Kumar Agrawal. Amit Agrawal is alleged to have received M

ED issues fourth summon to Kejriwal in Delhi excise policy case for Jan 18

The Enforcement Directorate has issued summons for the fourth time to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on Saturday. Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been asked to depose before the agency on January 18, they said. The 55-year-old Kejriwal had refused to depose before the ED for the third time on January 3, saying the "non-disclosure and non-response approach" of the agency cannot sustain the test of law, equity or justice and its "obstinacy" is tantamount to assuming the role of judge, jury and executioner. The chief minister was earlier asked to depose on November 2 and December 21 in 2023. It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the AAP. The policy was subsequent

ED raids residences of Bengal minister, TMC leaders; police dispatched

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday searched the residences of West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose, TMC MLA Tapas Roy, and another TMC leader in connection with the alleged irregularities in civic body recruitments. This was the first ED raid since the assault on its officers during a previous search operation at the residence of a TMC leader at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district in the ration distribution scam last week. In a departure from the previous ED raids, a substantial contingent of central police personnel cordoned off Bose's residence and prevented any gathering of party supporters near it. The central forces were equipped with additional protective gear, including helmets and automatic guns. The central agency's sleuths conducted searches at two residences of Bose in the Lake Town area of North 24 Parganas district, as well as Roy's BB Ganguly Street residence in central Kolkata and Subodh Chakraborty's residence in Birati, North 24

Bhushan Steel bank 'fraud' case: ED arrests 5 including ex-executives

The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has arrested five persons in connection with an alleged Rs 56,000 crore bank loan fraud linked money laundering case against erstwhile Bhushan Steel Ltd. Former vice president (banking) of the company Pankaj Tewari, former VP (accounts) Pankaj Agarwal, ex-chief financial officer Nittin Johri, Ajay Mittal, the brother-in-law of former promoter Neeraj Singal, and Ajay Mittal's wife and sister of Neeraj Singal, Archana Mittal were taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Thursday, it said. They were sent to three days ED custody by a court after they were produced over two days, the agency said. After completing the corporate insolvency resolution process, Bhushan Steel was taken over by Tata Steel Ltd in 2018. According to the ED, Bhushan Steel Limited's former managing director Neeraj Singal and his associates formed several shell companies and the promoters and entities linked to BSL "rotated funds from one

Karnataka HC: Xiaomi files appeal against ED's seizure of Rs 5,551.27 cr

A division bench of the High Court of Karnataka on Friday heard an appeal filed by smartphone maker Xiaomi challenging a single-judge order which had upheld the Enforcement Directorate's seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore from its bank accounts. The bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice M G S Kamal heard the arguments submitted by the counsel for the company before adjourning the hearing to January 20. The Court specified that there would be no further extensions and both the company's counsel and the government advocate were expected to complete their arguments on that date. The counsel for the company argued that the seizure was unnecessary and under Section 37A of FEMA even the necessity of suspicion is not required. Even the qualification of the "authorised officer" to take action was not prescribed. The court was told that Section 37A "seems to be clearly draconian", as for 30 days after the seizure the company has to only wait for the authority to decide on it. "Why

Karti Chidambaram appears before ED third time in less than one month

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here on Friday, his third deposition in less than a month, for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged issuance of visas to some Chinese nationals in 2011, sources said. The 52-year-old legislator from Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu was questioned in this case on December 23 last year and January 2 and the central agency recorded his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Karti went to the ED headquarters in Delhi for the third time on Friday morning. It is understood that his deposition was in connection with the Chinese visa linked PMLA case this time too. The MP had called the summons in this case a "routine affair and things that happen routinely especially when elections come near". "These are all exercises in futility. We will go through them," he had told reporters while deposing earlier this month. The money laundering case, filed un

Bhushan Steel bank case: ED nabs 5 persons for alleged Rs 56,000 cr fraud

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested five persons in connection with an alleged Rs 56,000 crore bank loan fraud linked money laundering case against erstwhile Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL), official sources said Friday. Those taken into custody on Thursday are Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, the former vice president banking of the company, former VP accounts Pankaj Kumar Agarwal, ex-chief financial officer Nitin Johri, Ajay Mittal, the brother-in-law of former promoter Neeraj Singal, and Ajay Mittal's wife and sister of Neeraj Singal, Archana Mittal. After completing the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), Bhushan Steel was taken over by Tata Steel Ltd in 2018. According to the ED, Bhushan Steel Limited's former Managing Director Neeraj Singal and his associates formed several shell companies and the promoters and entities linked to BSL "rotated funds from one company to another through a chain of multiple entities" as part of an alleged bank loan fraud. The money laundering case .