The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 90 immovable properties, luxurious vehicles, jewellery, and cash valued at Rs 51.40 crore belonging to Ms Ranu Sahu IAS, Suryakant Tiwari, Devender Yadav, MLA, Chandradev Prasad Rai, MLA, R P Singh, Vinod Tiwari, and Ram Gopal Agarwal in the illegal Coal levy extortion scam in Chhattisgarh.
During the investigations, direct proof of the above individuals’ financial ties to Suryakant Tiwari was uncovered, and assets formed by the stacking of criminal profits or analogous assets were identified for attachment proceedings under the PMLA 2002.
Previously, Suryakant Tiwari, Sameer Vishnoi IAS, Ms Saumya Chaurasia (Chhattisgarh Civil Service Officer), Sunil Agarwal, and others had their assets attached for Rs 170 crore. In this situation, the total attachment has reached around Rs 221.5 Crore.
Based on the FIR filed in response to the Income Tax Department’s allegation, the ED has launched a money laundering probe. More than 145 locations have been searched, and 9 people have been detained under the PMLA thus far. They are all under judicial detention.
Prosecution Complaints were filed in the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA) on 09.12.2022 and 30.01.2023 against Suryakant Tiwari, Saumya Chaurasia, Sameer Vishnoi IAS, and others. According to an ED inquiry, the profits of crime in this Coal levy extortion ring were Rs 540 crore. More research is being conducted.
