Coal news and updates

Companies, personnel in coal scam under ED scanner

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will take a “conclusive action” towards attachment of assets of those involved in the illegal coal block allocation scam. According to sources in the agency and finance ministry, penalty proceedings would start by the month-end. The agency has registered as many as 20 cases against entities and personnel under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“To nail the probable entities under the PMLA, attention would be given to establish whether personnel and companies took undue gains out of the illegal coal block allocations,” said a source close to the development.

ED would also rely on the investigations conducted by other agencies, such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

 In the coal scam, the CBI has so far registered 40 cases after a two-and-a-half-year probe. The agency has started preliminary inquiry in five cases. Most of the instances relate to criminal conspiracy by government officials and misrepresentation of facts by companies and the accused, primarily, are promoters of private companies and a few public officials.

The Supreme Court is monitoring all the cases being investigated by the CBI. The agency has also established instances of quid pro quo in a few high-profile cases. One of the investigations also established a money trail that showed kickbacks to the tune of Rs 2 crore received by government officials through indirect channels. Agency sources said government officials, in collusion with the coal block owners, had allegedly allocated the blocks without following the stipulated procedures.

As per the information shared between the two agencies, it is expected that 17 firms will face action.

Recently, the ED has taken action against JSW Steel in the scam. The ED, Bengaluru, under PMLA, attached Rs 24 crore from the bank accounts of JSW Steels Ltd.

In an email response, a spokesperson for JSW Steel said, “The actions by ED are strongly contested by the company in appropriate court of law.”

“Some more attachments of assets, including immovable properties and fixed deposits of those individuals and companies named in the FIRs, will be carried out soon,” an ED official said.

The investigations into the coal scam being done by CBI and ED is being monitored by the Supreme Court.

source: http://www.business-standard.com