Just Rs 4,000 crore assets attached so far in Rs 47,000-crore Bhushan fraud, ED tells court

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today told a local Court that it is probing a bank fraud running into Rs 47,000 crores allegedly committed by Sanjay Singal, former Chairman and Managing Director of Bhushan Power and Steel Limited and co-accused.
Special public prosecutor for ED, Advocate Nitesh Rana told the Court that the agency has attached only Rs 4,000 crores of Bhushan Steel so far and that the scandal involves over Rs 43,000 crores which the agency is still investigating.

Rana further told the Court that the proceeds of crime allegedly parked by Singal and his co-accused need to be located. He added that the money allegedly laundered was diverted for personal assets by the accused. Taking stock, a local Court remanded Singal to seven days of police custody.

ED had arrested Singal in connection with an ongoing money laundering probe against him on Friday.

ET was the first to report on October 19 that ED in its probe report had said that BPSL chairman Sanjay Singal had devised a “brilliant scheme to dress up the books of accounts” of the company.

“BPSL had devised a peculiar modus operandi to siphon funds obtained as loans from various banks/financial institutions,” the ED said. “Singals did not use the bank funds for the purpose for which the same were sanctioned, committed forgery and falsified accounts, causing wrongful loss to the lending banks.”

In July, Punjab National Bank and Allahabad Bank had accused BPSL’s former promoters and directors of fraud in connection with loans given to the company.

The ED said that during his questioning on October 3, Singal admitted to routing the amounts transferred by BPSL to various parties on account of purchase of goods, which never took place.

Singal deposed in his statement that Rs 3,330 crore was routed to the accounts of four companies controlled by him out of the funds diverted from the accounts of BPSL in the shape of advances shown to various parties.

It added that Singal conceded that the four companies – Jasmine Steel Trading, Marsh Steel, Diyajyoti Steel and Vision Steel – were promoters of BPSL that were ultimately owned and controlled by him and his family. The four companies infused Rs 3,330 crore in BPSL in the period from 2011-12 to 2016-17. BPSL has denied the allegations levelled against it.