The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday recorded the statement of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in connection with the money laundering investigations into allegations of possessing disproportionate assets. Mr. Singh was questioned for nearly eight hours today and proceedings concluded at 9.45 p.m. Earlier this month, in the same case, the agency had attached a farmhouse currently worth ₹ 27 crore.
The development comes days after the Delhi High Court declined to quash the case against Mr. Singh, his wife and others, following which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge-sheet against them.
The CBI accused Mr. Singh of amassing assets worth ₹ 10.3 crore between May 2009 and June 2012 when he was Union steel minister. The amount is allegedly 192% more than his income from known sources during the period.
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent Anand Chauhan, Tarini Infrastructure managing director Vakamulla Chandrashekhar, Universal Apples Associates (Himachal Pradesh) owner Chunni Lal Chauhan, Prem Raj, Lavan Roach, Ram Prakash Bhatia and a stamp vendor have also been named in the charge-sheet.
According to the CBI, the LIC agent had helped Mr. Singh invest unaccounted money in life insurance policies. In his annual returns, Mr. Singh later showed the additional amount as income from the sale of apples from his orchard. An MoU was also prepared projecting the LIC agent as the orchard manager. Accused Prem Raj and Lavan Roach were shown as witnesses to the agreement.
However, the agency alleged that the invoices for the sale of apples to Universal Apples were forged. On its part, the Income-Tax Department did not accept the explanation in the revised annual return, following which an inquiry was launched.
