The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹159.51 crore in connection with its probe related to alleged illegal mining and transportation of coal in West Bengal, the agency said on Wednesday. Political consultancy firm I-PAC is also under investigation in this case.
“ED, headquarters office, has provisionally attached assets worth ₹159.51 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with an ongoing investigation into large-scale illegal coal mining and pilferage in the leasehold areas of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL),” ED said in a statement.
The investigation, ED said, has revealed that the illegal mining operations were carried out by a syndicate led by Anup Majee, also known as Lala.
“Certain beneficiary companies in West Bengal were found to have knowingly purchased illegally excavated coal in cash, thereby assisting in the concealment and projection of Proceeds of Crime as legitimate. The attached assets include investments in movable financial instruments such as corporate bonds and alternate investment funds held in the names of beneficiary entities”, ED said.
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{{/usCountry}}According to the agency, the syndicate was engaged in illegal excavation and widespread coal pilferage, distributing the coal to multiple factories in West Bengal with the active facilitation of local administrative elements.
“A key modus operandi involved the use of an illegal transport challan system known as the ‘Lala pad’, which functioned as a fake tax invoice issued in the name of non-existent entities. Along with the fake transport challan, a currency note of ₹10 or ₹20 was provided to the transporter. The transporter would take a photograph of the said currency note while holding it beside the number plate of the truck, dumper, or tipper carrying the illegal coal and send the image to the operator of the coal syndicate. The operator would then circulate the photograph through WhatsApp to concerned police officials and other government authorities along the route of the vehicle, ensuring that the truck was not intercepted or, if intercepted, was immediately released,” the agency said.
ED said its probe has also uncovered the use of an underground hawala network for transferring Proceeds of Crime in cash, bypassing formal banking channels.
So far, it has attached assets worth ₹482 crore in the case.
The agency said on Monday after arresting I-PAC director Vinesh Chandel that the political consultancy firm raised bogus invoices to justify receiving funds from multiple third-party entities “without rendering any actual consultancy or professional services”.
According to ED officers, a probe has revealed that I-PAC was involved in laundering of funds worth ₹50 crore.
“The firm was allegedly involved in laundering proceeds of crime to the tune of multiple crores. The amount detected so far is about ₹50 crore,” said an officer.