Shyam: ED seizes assets worth over Rs 160 cr of Shyam group firm | India News
New Delhi: A day after the arrest of I-PAC promoter-director Vinesh Chandel in Delhi, the ED on Wednesday attached assets worth Rs 160 crore, including corporate bonds and alternative investment funds. Shyam Ferro Alloy controlled by Shyam Group’s Sanjay Agarwal in a move linked to the investigation into the West Bengal coal mining scam.With this, the total attachment in the case rose to over Rs 482 crore.“The crime involves multiple layers of complex financial transactions designed to conceal the source and ownership of illegal funds,” the ED said, continuing to unravel these layers to identify the ultimate beneficiaries, find additional crime proceeds and zero in on all those involved in money laundering.The ED’s probe into the coal scam has, for now, shifted focus to I-PAC which, Chandel’s remand notes, received substantial criminal proceeds from illegal coal mining in the leasehold areas of Eastern Coalfields Ltd in West Bengal. The agency, however, did not name the political parties involved.The Enforcement Directorate said that during a search at the I-PAC premises on April 2, it seized incriminating documents related to fraudulent transactions and election expenditure. “The said documents were also found in the office of a political party and corroborated by the statement recorded by the investigating officer,” it said, pointing to an alleged alliance to use unaccounted funds for election expenses.Chandel, founder director of I-PAC since 2015, is an equal shareholder with Prateek Jain and Rishi Raj and a key decision maker on operational and financial matters.“Substantial deposits have been made to the I-PAC account from various entities without any genuine business purpose, the company acting as a conduit,” the agency said.The enforcement agency added that the unaccounted cash was routed through hawala channels, recording statements of people associated with I-PAC. During interrogation, Chandel allegedly made “false and misleading statements,” denied cash transactions and misrepresented company operations.
