ED attaches Rs 31.70 crore assets, files supplementary charge sheet in Chhattisgarh DMFT funds scam
Raipur: The Enforcement Directorate’s Raipur Zonal Office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth approximately Rs 31.70 crore in connection with the alleged misappropriation of District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT) funds.
The agency also filed a supplementary charge sheet on October 30 before the Special Court (PMLA) in Raipur against 17 accused, including Satpal Singh Chabda and Mandip Chawla, for offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The provisional attachment order was issued on October 29 under the provisions of PMLA. The case stems from the systematic diversion of DMFT funds — meant for the welfare and development of mining-affected areas and communities — through Chhattisgarh Rajya Beej Evam Krishi Vikas Nigam (Beej Nigam).
According to an ED press note, a well-organised syndicate involving public servants and agents/liaisoners manipulated the allocation and utilisation of these funds. They favoured supply-oriented works with inflated procurement costs and extracted illegal commissions ranging from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the base value of purchase orders issued to rate-contract holder entities. A substantial portion of these commissions was allegedly passed on to public servants and influential persons in return for facilitating fund allocation, issuance of purchase orders and release of payments, the ED said.
Commissions were collected in cash as well as through banking channels and layered via multiple entities and accounts. Similar commissions were also siphoned from procurements undertaken by Beej Nigam using non-DMF funds, it said.
Chabda has been identified as one of the main liaisons and financial coordinators of the syndicate. He allegedly facilitated the allocation of works to selected vendors, issuance of purchase orders, release of payments, and the collection and distribution of illegal commissions. He was arrested by the ED on September 1 under Section 19 of the PMLA, the press note said.
The agency has quantified the proceeds of crime attributable to the accused at around Rs 35 crore, against which properties valued at Rs 31.70 crore have now been attached.
So far, four accused persons, including IAS officer Ramu Shau, have been arrested in the matter.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of FIRs registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing, Raipur, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Additional FIRs registered by Chhattisgarh Police in Kanker district and by ACB/EOW, Raipur, were also clubbed into the ED’s Enforcement Case Information Report. Further investigation into the roles of government servants and other agents involved in the misuse of DMF funds, collection and distribution of illegal commissions, and laundering of proceeds of crime is continuing.