After unearthing documents on alleged illegal transactions worth Rs 1,500 crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to arrest former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda for money laundering.
Trouble ahead
The directorate could arrest Koda and his associates in two days under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, said an investigating agency source.
The ED, which probes foreign exchange violation cases, summoned Koda on Wednesday to appear before it on November 9.
The directorate and the Income Tax (I-T) department have directed the ARA Memorial Weavers’ Hospital in Ranchi, where Koda is recuperating, not to release him without informing them.
Koda was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday after he complained of stomach ache, nausea and high blood pressure.
Koda, 38, who worked as a labourer in iron-ore mines till the early 1990s, is accused of amassing assets of roughly Rs 4,000 crore — almost a fifth of the annual budget of Jharkhand, which he ruled from September 2006 to August 2008.
The ED has also summoned three ex-ministers — Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Bandhu Tirkey — besides seven other associates of Koda.
{{/usCountry}}The ED has also summoned three ex-ministers — Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Bandhu Tirkey — besides seven other associates of Koda.
{{/usCountry}}As raids continued for the fifth day across nine cities, sleuths scrutinised documents seized from nearly 70 of Koda and his associates’ premises.
ED officials will question Koda on his links with the Mumbai-based Balaji group that allegedly made transactions worth Rs 1,500 crore on his behalf.
“Some companies in Mumbai used fake bills to accept cash from Koda and transfer it abroad through hawala (illegal money transfer). In just six months, cash worth more than Rs 100 crore was deposited in one company,” an ED source said.
with Madan Kumar, Ranchi