The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member and industrialist K.D. Singh in connection with a Ponzi scam case allegedly involving Alchemist Infra Realty Limited. The company was accused of collecting over ₹1,900 crore from investors through unauthorised means.
“Mr. Singh has been arrested in the Alchemist case,” said a senior ED official.
The money laundering probe was initiated on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) against the company and its directors in March 2016.
Mr. Singh headed the Alchemist Group till 2012.
On Wednesday, the ED produced Mr. Singh before a special court that sent him to the agency’s custody till January 16. He refuted all the charges against him.
The ED had summoned Mr. Singh for recording his statement on multiple occasions. In January 2019, it attached assets worth ₹239.29 crore in the same case. The properties, besides the balance in two bank accounts, were located in Chandigarh, Panchkula, Derabassi and SAS Nagar (Punjab) and Shimla.
Money laundering
According to the ED, the proceeds of crime generated by the company were laundered via a web of companies. The funds collected from investors on the pretext of lucrative schemes were not used for the stated purpose and transferred to the accounts of other group entities, which were mainly paper firms, it was alleged.
The ED carried out searches on the premises of Mr. Singh in Delhi and Chandigarh in September 2019 and seized ₹32 lakh and $10,000 in cash.
