ED files supplementary charge sheet in Jharkhand bitumen scam case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said that it has filed a Supplementary charge sheet against Classic Coal Construction Pvt. Ltd, Classic Multiplex Pvt. Ltd. and their directors -- Dilip Kumar Singh and Kumar Pranav in a case of bitumen scam in Jharkhand.

The supplementary charge sheet was filed under the sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a Ranchi Court in Jharkhand with a request for confiscation of attached properties totalling to Rs 1.83 crore apart from awarding punishment to the accused persons.

The ED has earlier attached three immovable properties in the form of a commercial property and a residential property, both at Ranchi and a plot in Ramgarh, held in the name of Classic Coal Construction Pvt, Ltd., Classic Multiplex Pvt. Ltd. and the erstwhile Managing Director of the Company, late Pawan Kumar Singh.

The ED registered a case of money laundering on the basis of four FIRs and charge sheets filed by CBI against Classic Coal Constructions Pvt. Ltd. and its directors Pawan Kumar Singh, Dilip Kumar Singh, 22 Engineers of the RCD department of Jharkhand government and two others.


According to the CBI charge sheet, the directors of the two companies ignored the mandate to procure bitumen from the government undertaking Oil companies like HPCL, IOCL, BPCL, etc. and submitted 492 fake or forged invoices pertaining to HPCL, Ramnagar, West Bengal, to the RCD department showing procurement of 4,630 MT of bitumen for road works and got payment in connivance with the departmental engineers on strength of these fake or forged bills to the tune of Rs 6.88 crore.

During investigation, the ED found that ill-gotten money was used to create assets and to meet miscellaneous expenditure pertaining to the company and its directors.

"After identification of proceeds of crime, two provisional attachment orders attaching assets worth Rs 2.08 crore and Rs 1.83 crore were issued.


The ED had earlier filed a charge sheet in the case. - IANS