ED attaches ₹58.34-crore assets in Bhushan Steel case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth ₹58.34 crore belonging to the wife of Neeraj Singal, promoter of erstwhile Bhushan Steel Limited (BSL), in
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth ₹58.34 crore belonging to the wife of Neeraj Singal, promoter of erstwhile Bhushan Steel Limited (BSL), in connection with an alleged money laundering case, said the agency on Thursday. The attached properties comprise land and part of a residential property located in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore and movable assets in the form of equity shares and bank balances held in the name of Mr. Singal’s wife, Ritu Singal.
The ED probe is based on a criminal complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) against BSL, Mr. Singal and others. The said complaint had invoked scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. According to the ED, its investigation revealed that Mr. Singal and associates diverted funds from the company under the garb of genuine transactions, causing losses to the tune of ₹11,446.73 crore to financial institutions. “Zinc Ingots, purchased from Hindustan Zinc Limited, which were meant for the plants of erstwhile BSL were sold out of books, in the open market by the accused persons,” it said.
“This resulted in cash payments being received by the accused persons. Such cash generated from out-of-book sales of Zinc Ingots from erstwhile BSL was used for availing accommodation entries of bogus Long Term Capital Gain (LTCG) from various penny stock companies. The siphoning of cash...was also corroborated with the fact of huge unaccounted cash deposited in the bank accounts during the relevant period,” said the agency. Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached assets worth ₹61.38 crore on November 8, 2021, and ₹367 crore on March 6, 2024.
A prosecution complaint dated August 8, 2023, and a supplementary prosecution complaint dated March 7, 2024, have been filed against Mr. Singal, his wife, and others.
The BriefWire