Ranchi (Jharkhand): Tightening the noose around Puja Singhal in the much hyped money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate officials has started questioning her husband Abhishek Jha on Monday morning. The ED officials will also interrogate his Chartered Accountant Suman Kumar in the case.
Jha who arrived at the ED office in a white colour Safari vehicle at around 11 am on Monday is likely to be questioned on the money trail. Kumar appeared before the officials at 10.19 am in the morning.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had recovered Rs 19 crore worth of cash from the residence of Jharkhand Mines and Industries Department Secretary Pooja Singhal's Chartered Accountant Suman Kumar. The ED officials believe that the recovery has direct relation with the multi-crore money laundering case, in Ranchi. Kumar was being questioned along with his brother Pawan in connection with the case .
Previously the ED on Friday had conducted raids at 18 locations in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, including the official residence of mining secretary Puja Singhal, in the hospital of her husband and in the residence of Suman Kumar. The ED officials said that the searches were carried out under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Singhal has been accused of misappropriating of MGNREGA funds to the tune 18 crore in Khunti district of the state during 2008-11.
In the laundering case where a former junior engineer in the Jharkhand government, Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, was arrested on June 17, 2020, from the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) . During the ED raid, ownership documents regarding to the tune of Rs 150 crore investment by Singhal and her close friends were recovered.