The Enforcement Directorate has launched a money laundering probe against one of its former Joint Directors, J.P. Singh, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly receiving money from several suspects in two cases of hawala and cricket betting rackets busted by his team about two years ago.
About a month ago, the CBI arrested Mr. Singh along with his former subordinate Sanjay Kumar and alleged middlemen Bimal Agrawal and Chandresh Patel. The agency had registered a corruption case against him in 2015 following a complaint from the ED.
Based on reports allegedly revealing that the IRS officer was indulging in corrupt practices, the ED had shifted him out of its Ahmedabad zone.
It was alleged that he and the then Enforcement Officer, Sanjay Kumar, conspired with their contacts to extort money from the suspects in the Surat-based hawala racket and the Rs. 2,000-crore cricket betting racket for not taking legal action against them.
The case being probed by the unit allegedly involved hawala operator Afroz Fatta.
Last year, the CBI arrested three “bookies” named J.K. Arora, Sonu Jalan and Jayesh Thakkar for allegedly working for Mr. Singh as informers. They passed on to him information on the hawala entry operators for conducting raids, it is alleged.
