It is alleged that Babulal Agrawal wanted to “settle” the CBI polls recorded against him in 2010
New Delhi:
The Law Enforcement Directorate (DE) has arrested former IAS officer Babulal Agrawal of Chhattisgarh in a money laundering case linked to bribery and disproportionate asset charges against him, said Tuesday the agency.
“He was arrested on Monday at his residence in Raipur and was brought before a special PMLA (Money Laundering Prevention Act) court, and the court sent him into police custody until November 12,” he indicated.
Mr. Agrawal, an IAS agent from 1988, was Principal Secretary of the Chhattisgarh government and has also been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the past for corruption.
He was suspended by the state government after his arrest by the CBI.
It has been alleged that Agrawal wanted to “settle” the CBI investigations against him which were recorded in 2010 while he was health secretary in the Chhattisgarh government.
The ED said in a statement he was arrested for “laundering proceeds generated by criminal offenses through shell companies and incorporating them into the affairs of family members.”
The agency said its criminal complaint against Agrawal, his chartered accountant Sunil Agrawal and others was filed with the PMLA after investigating a 2010 FIR from the Chhattisgarh anti-corruption bureau and the CBI.
The alleged bribery and disproportionate asset case against the former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official came to light after the Income Tax Department searched him in February 2010.
The ED said the investigation revealed that Agrawal “played an active role in splitting government contracts related to the World Bank-assisted malaria program and awarding them to some non-existent entities and, for example, therefore resulting in losses for the Treasury and pecuniary advantages for itself. “
The former bureaucrat, in collusion with his CA Sunil Agrawal, his brother Ashok Agrawal and Pawan Agrawal, opened “more than 400 bank accounts in the name of gullible villagers of Kharora and its neighboring villages and cash to the tune of ‘About Rs 46 crore was deposited,’ the agency alleged.
This money, the ED alleged, was “laundered” through shell or bogus companies opened by the board of Agrawal and other entities, which was eventually parked in a company identified as Prime Ispat Ltd, Raipur , as an investment in shares.
“The ED has already attached properties to the tune of Rs 36.09 crore which includes the assets of Prime Ispat Ltd, Raipur and the properties of Babulal Agrawal,” he said.
The accountant Sunil Agrawal was arrested by the ED in this case earlier.
