THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Jan 12: In relation to a purported money laundering case against the former Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL) and bank loan fraud over Rs 56,000 crore, the Enforcement Directorate has arrested five individuals, according to official sources on Friday.
Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, the company’s former vice president of banking, Pankaj Kumar Agarwal; the former vice president of accounts, Nitin Johri, the former chief financial officer; Ajay Mittal, the brother-in-law of former promoter Neeraj Singal; and Archana Mittal who is Ajay Mittal’s wife and Neeraj Singal’s sister, were all taken into custody on Thursday.
Following the conclusion of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), Tata Steel Ltd acquired control of Bhushan Steel in 2018.
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Formed shell companies to rotate funds
The ED asserts that as part of an alleged bank loan fraud, Neeraj Singal, the former managing director of Bhushan Steel Limited, and his associates established a number of shell companies, and the promoters and entities associated with BSL “rotated funds from one company to another through a chain of multiple entities”.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an investigative body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, filed a charge sheet that is the basis for the money laundering case.
