The Enforcement Directorate recently conducted new searches related to a money laundering investigation involving the promoters and entities of the former Bhushan Steel Limited, linked to an alleged bank fraud case amounting to Rs 56,000 crore. These searches covered 30 locations in the national capital region, Haryana, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Bhubaneswar (Odisha) on October 13.
The money laundering probe is based on a charge sheet filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, a part of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The investigation revealed that Bhushan Steel Limited and its Managing Director Neeraj Singal, along with associates, established multiple shell companies. After Bhushan Steel’s corporate insolvency resolution process, Tata Steel took over the company in 2018.
The Enforcement Directorate alleged that the promoters and entities connected to Bhushan Steel ‘routed funds through a network of multiple entities,’ which were not used for the purposes intended by the banks. They allegedly manipulated documents and provided false information to the banks to divert funds into their own companies, causing losses to the State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank.
During the search operations, incriminating documents and digital records were seized, with digital evidence found hidden with key employees or confidants of Neeraj Singal. The authorities also confiscated Rs 72 lakh in cash, foreign currency/traveler’s cheques valued at around Rs 52 lakh, and three luxury cars (Mercedes Benz) worth Rs 4 crore. Neeraj Singal was arrested by the ED in June and is currently in judicial custody. The ED had also attached assets worth Rs 61.38 crore in this case.
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