MOST OF RECOVERED CASH BELONGS TO IAS POOJA SINGHAL, SAYS HER CA

RANCHI: The charted accountant of suspended Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal, in his statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said that most of the cash amount recovered from his house by the probe agency, in connection with a case linked to the alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds, belongs to the IAS officer.

The ED had on May 7 arrested Kumar after it recovered Rs 17.51 crore from premises of Kumar and Rs 1.8 crore from Ranchi’s Pulse Hospital. “As per the statement of Suman Kumar the CA who is in ED custody, most of the cash amount recovered from his house belongs to Pooja Singhal were collected by him on her instructions. Further, he disclosed that on instructions of Pooja Singhal he gave Rs 3 crore in cash to a renowned builder for purchasing the land of Pulse Hospital owned by Pooja Singhal and her family,” ED said in a statement.

As per statements of other witnesses, it is revealed that Pooja Singhal played a pivotal role in the construction and managing the important affairs of the Pulse Super Speciality Hospital and the huge payments were usually received in cash.

ED has informed the court that the agency has reasons to believe that Singhal is involved in the activities of money laundering.

Singhal was the secretary of the Department of Mines and Geology and the Managing Director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Limited (JSMDC) had served as the deputy commissioner of Jharkhand’s Khunti district between 2009 and 2010. She was arrested by the ED on May 11 and on May 12 the Jharkhand government suspended her.

After her arrest, a special PMLA court, in Ranchi, sent Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal to five-day remand of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Earlier this month, ED had conducted raids at Ranchi’s Pulse Hospital, which is owned by Abhishek Jha, husband of Pooja Singhal.