ED files supplementary chargesheet against Virbhadra Singh
New Delhi, Feb 1 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday filed a supplementary chargesheet against former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife, accused of money laundering.
The ED has chargesheeted Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh and three others — Chunni Lal Chauhan, Prem Raj and Lawan Kumar Roach — under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The chargesheet was filed before Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann, who listed the matter for February 12 for further hearing.
Special Public Prosecutor N.K. Matta told the court that there is enough material on record to proceed against the accused in the case.
Earlier, the ED had filed its first chargesheet against Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, accusing him of investing Virbhadra Singh’s Rs 5.14 crore in LIC policies purchased in his name and those of his family members, including his wife.
A probe had found that Virbahdra Singh had accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore in his name and in the names of his family members, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income, during his tenure as the Union Steel Minister from 2009 to 2011.
ED alleged that Virbhadra Singh with help of his wife and Chauhan indulged in money laundering by investing tainted money in LIC polices in the name of his family members and to show legitimate income arising out of insurance policies.
The amount of some of the policies was used for purchasing a house at Greater Kailash in south Delhi.
An ante-dated MOU dated June 15, 2008 and fake sale vouchers was obtained from Chunni Lal Chauhan, said the ED, alleging that these documents were an attempt at layering to project the tainted properties as untainted.
“Chunni Lal created fake sale proceeds (bills) of Universal Apple Associates showing fictitious sale of apples of Shrikhand orchard, Damrali of Virbhadra Singh to various buyers,” it said, adding that this was confirmed from investigations as the vehicle numbers used for transporting the said apples were not in existence or were of vehicles not capable of transporting apples.
The probe agency also said that claim of Chunni Lal Chauhan regarding payment of Rs 1 crore to various buyers is false.
Pratibha Singh knew Anand Chauhan from a long time and utilised his service of LIC agent to invest proceeds of crime of Virbhadra Singh in LIC policies.
Similarly, Roach and Prem Raj knowingly assisted Virbhadra Singh and others in projection of proceeds of crime as untainted by involving himself in execution of ante-dated MOU by signing it is as an witness. The three judicial papers utilised in the purported MOU dated June 15, 2008 were also not in existence and they were dispatched from the Himachal Government Press after August 25, 2008.
IANS
