The Adjudicating Authority has confirmed the preliminary attachment of Pooja Singhal’s immovable properties. Previously, on 01.12.2022, the ED temporarily attached these immovable properties worth Rs. 82.77 crores in Ranchi, Jharkhand, belonging to Pooja Singhal, IAS, and others. Among the properties are one Super Speciality Hospital, ‘Pulse Super Speciality Hospital,’ one diagnostics centre, ‘Pulse Diagnostic and Imaging Centre,’ plant and machinery, and two land parcels in Ranchi.
Based on several FIRs filed by the Jharkhand Police and Vigilance Bureau, the ED initiated an investigation into money laundering. According to the inquiry, the proceeds of crime from the MNREGA Scam were put in many bank accounts belonging to Pooja Singhal and her relatives and were also used to purchase/invest in other properties.
The aforementioned POC was mixed in with and piled with extra unauthorised money generated by Pooja Singhal through the abuse of her official position. Pooja Singhal built a substantial wealth that was disproportionate to her acknowledged source of income, and the funds spent on these immovable properties were mostly sourced from unaccounted cash profits generated by this POC, and hence referred to as Proceeds of Crime. Throughout the investigation, the ED conducted searches at multiple homes belonging to Pooja Singhal and her coworkers on 06.05.2022.
During the search, money worth Rs 19.76 crore was discovered and confiscated. In a ruling dated October 31, 2022, the Adjudicating Authority authorised the retention of the confiscated cash and other seized property. Pooja Singhal was held by the ED on 11.05.22, and a Prosecution Complaint for money laundering was filed against her and six others on 05.07.22. She is presently being kept in Judicial Custody at Ranchi’s Hotwar Jail after the Supreme Court denied her bail application. More study is being carried out.
