New Delhi: Sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches on about a dozen premises spread over three states in connection with its money laundering probe against Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh.
Official sources said the searches were carried out in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata on the premises of some associates of Virbhadra and those named in the FIR registered by the agency in the national capital recently.
The searches were launched early in the morning, the sources said, adding that raids were also carried out on the premises of some business entities that allegedly received funds from Virbhadra’s associates.
The ED had filed the money laundering case against Virbhadra under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after taking cognisance of a criminal complaint filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in this regard in September.
The sources said investigators had gathered some “important” documents to probe and detect the “proceeds of crime” allegedly channelled by Virbhadra and his associates by using purported illegal routes.
It is alleged that Virbhadra and his family members amassed wealth of `6.1 crore between 2009 and 2011 when he was the Union minister of steel in the UPA government. The CBI suspects that during 2009-11, he allegedly invested `6.1 crore in life insurance policies in his and his family members’ names through a Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent, claiming this money to be his agricultural income. It is alleged that Virbhadra attempted to legitimise the same as agricultural income by filing revised income tax returns in 2012.
Official sources said the searches were carried out in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata on the premises of some associates of Virbhadra and those named in the FIR registered by the agency in the national capital recently.
The searches were launched early in the morning, the sources said, adding that raids were also carried out on the premises of some business entities that allegedly received funds from Virbhadra’s associates.
The ED had filed the money laundering case against Virbhadra under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after taking cognisance of a criminal complaint filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in this regard in September.
The sources said investigators had gathered some “important” documents to probe and detect the “proceeds of crime” allegedly channelled by Virbhadra and his associates by using purported illegal routes.
It is alleged that Virbhadra and his family members amassed wealth of `6.1 crore between 2009 and 2011 when he was the Union minister of steel in the UPA government. The CBI suspects that during 2009-11, he allegedly invested `6.1 crore in life insurance policies in his and his family members’ names through a Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent, claiming this money to be his agricultural income. It is alleged that Virbhadra attempted to legitimise the same as agricultural income by filing revised income tax returns in 2012.
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