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IFS officer appears before ED in ‘Anee Bullion’ Scam probe
The 2006 batch IFS officer was quizzed for several hours by the ED at its Ashok Marg office in Lucknow. She is scheduled to reappear before the ED on Tuesday.
LUCKNOW Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Niharika Singh, allegedly involved in the ₹600-crore Anee Bullion Industry (ABI) scam, made her appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the state capital on Monday.
The 2006 batch IFS officer was quizzed for several hours by the ED at its Ashok Marg office in Lucknow. She is scheduled to reappear before the ED on Tuesday. This was the fifth summon the ED had issued to the officer in the ongoing investigation into the scam. Notably, Singh did not respond to the first four summonses.
Niharika Singh is the spouse of ABI owner Ajit Kumar Gupta and is presently stationed in Indonesia. The ED had initiated a money laundering case against ABI in 2019, based on 30 FIRs and complaints filed by the U.P. Police against Gupta.
A joint operation by the U.P. STF and the Lucknow Police led to Gupta’s arrest on July 16, 2020. Subsequently, during the investigation, Niharika Singh’s involvement came to light. In 2021, the ED incorporated the IFS officer’s name into the case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Sources revealed that, during the probe, certain financial transactions and money transfers associated with Gupta’s wife had come under scrutiny, necessitating her verification. Niharika Singh has previously served as the deputy chief of the southern Africa division, with postings in Tokyo and East Asian countries.
Explaining the modus operandi, ED sources disclosed that the company initially introduced Ponzi schemes across various districts of Uttar Pradesh through entities like Anee Bullion Traders, Anee Commodity Brokers Private Limited, Eye Vision India Credit Co-operative Society Limited, and Anee Bullion Industries, among others. These schemes enticed individuals to invest in the company, with the promise of substantial returns in the form of plots. Additionally, the company issued post-dated cheques to persuade potential investors, as per ED sources.
