ED files chargesheet against Ratul Puri before Delhi court

A charge sheet has been filed against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's nephew, Ratul Puri by the ED in money laundering case. Puri is also in judicial custody in AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam case.

New Delhi:The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed a charge sheet before a Delhi court against Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath in a money laundering case related to a bank loan fraud.

The ED filed charge sheet against Puri and company Moser Baer before Special Judge Sanjay Garg and the court is scheduled to take up the matter later in the day. The ED had arrested Puri on August 20. The court had earlier extended his judicial custody till October 17.

Puri is also in judicial custody in another money laundering case related to AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. In the chopper scam the Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed Puri's anticipatory bail plea, saying his custodial interrogation was "required for an effective investigation".

Puri was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the bank fraud case after he appeared before the central probe agency here in the chopper scam.

The latest PMLA case, filed by the ED, emerged from a CBI FIR of August 17, where Ratul Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita (Nath's sister) and others were booked in connection with a Rs 354 crore bank fraud case filed by the Central Bank of India.

The bank had claimed that the company and its directors forged and fabricated documents to induce the Central Bank of India to release funds.

The Puri family, other individuals like Sanjay Jain and Vineet Sharma were booked by the CBI for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption.

Ratul Puri was booked in this case in his capacity as executive director of Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL), a firm promoted by his father Deepak Puri.

The company manufactured optical storage media like compact discs, DVDs, solid state storage devices.

Puri is facing criminal investigation by three main central probe agencies, ED, CBI and the Income Tax department.