ED attaches assets worth Rs 61.38 cr of BSL, BEL, others

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 61.38 crore in its ongoing investigations regarding siphoning of public funds from Bhushan Steel Limited (BSL), Bhushan Energy Limited (BEL) and others, the agency said in an official statement on Tuesday.

The action has been taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

According to the statement, the attached assets consist of agricultural land in Raigad, Maharashtra, warehouses in Faridabad, Haryana and Guwahati, Assam. These assets were held in the names of associates in entities under the control of erstwhile promoters of BSL.

The ED initiated the money-laundering investigation on the basis of a complaint filed by the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) under various provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 against BSL, BEL and others involving siphoning of public funds, the statement said.

During the course of investigations under PMLA, it was revealed that ex-promoters of BSL, Neeraj Singal along with BB Singal and others had diverted funds from BSL through a complex web of transactions by way of routing of public funds in the garb of unsecured loans given by BEL to their associate companies, the statement added.

The proceeds from the crime were ultimately utilized for the acquisition of various immovable properties. The elaborate and complex web of transactions was structured to protect these assets as untainted, it said.

Further investigation is underway.

( With inputs from ANI )

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