Ranchi, March 31: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a fourth supplementary chargesheet against five individuals in connection with the misappropriation of government funds related to MNREGA and other development schemes in Khunti district, Jharkhand. An official disclosed this information on Monday.
The chargesheet was submitted to the Special Court in Ranchi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The accused include Amita Jha, Siddharth Singhal, Radheshyam Fireworks LLP, Pawan Kumar Singh, and Kamlesh Singhal. The ED stated that the investigation revealed that the five suspects were involved in illegal earnings.
In an official statement, the ED requested the court to approve the seizure of 17 decimals of land located in Mauja Boria, which was purchased with illicit earnings amounting to ₹1.33 crore.
The ED’s investigation was initiated based on 16 FIRs filed by the Jharkhand Police and the Vigilance Bureau against government officials, including junior engineer Ram Binod Prasad Sinha.
The probe uncovered that approximately ₹24 crore was released for various development projects in Khunti district. The ED reported that between 2009 and 2011, ₹18.06 crore was fraudulently misappropriated.
Additionally, the investigation revealed that the then Deputy Commissioner of Khunti, Pooja Singhal, received cash commissions equivalent to five percent of the project funds in exchange for approving projects, thereby shielding the accused officials from departmental action.
The ED noted that the proceeds from these crimes were later reinvested through a vast network of shell companies, family proxies, and corporate structures. In earlier phases of the investigation, chargesheets were filed against eight individuals, including Pooja Singhal, her husband Abhishek Jha, chartered accountant and financial manager Suman Kumar, and M/s Pulse Sanjeevani Healthcare.
During the investigation, search operations were conducted at 24 locations associated with Pooja Singhal and her associates. On May 6, 2022, ₹17.49 crore in unaccounted cash was seized from the residence of co-accused CA Suman Kumar in Ranchi. A total of ₹1.82 crore was recovered from another associate’s home, bringing the total cash seized in the case to ₹19.31 crore.
The statement further indicated that documents proving the crime, financial records, bank statements, share certificates, corporate records, and digital devices containing essential evidence were also confiscated.
The ED confirmed that it has provisionally attached the properties of the accused through four provisional attachment orders, which have been validated by the Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA.
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