Koda scam: Soren’s personal secretary, other officials raided (Lead)
February 16th, 2010 - 1:47 pm ICT by IANSRanchi, Feb 16 (IANS) The income tax department Tuesday raided the properties of several senior officials, including Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren’s personal secretary M.L. Pal, in connection with the Rs.2,500 crore money laundering scam involving former chief minister Madhu Koda.
“Raids were being conducted at 70 places in several states,” Ujjawal Chaudhary, income tax director (investigation), told IANS.
Sources in the department added that the raids were on in at least 13 states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Delhi.
Amongst those whose properties were being raided were Soren’s personal secretary Pal, two former chiefs of Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) V.N. Pandey and S.M. Verma as well as retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) bureaucrat and former mines secretary Jaishankar Tiwari.
Pal, who rose from being an engineer in a coal company to the owner of three houses, had earlier been raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On Tuesday, officials swooped down on his homes in Jamshedpur and Ranchi.
Tiwari, who was mines secretary when Koda was chief minister, admitted that Koda put pressure on him to get work done. He had also said Koda had cleared a file regarding recommendation of a mining lease to his close associate Vinod Sinha.
Two jewellery shops in Ranchi and a company involved in rural electrification work were also raided.
“The raids are being conducted at the properties of a few officials and two ex-chairmen of JSEB. A large-scale scam was found in rural electrification work,” said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, the raids are related to the Koda scam unearthed last October. While Koda is in jail for assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, his two associates Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary are still absconding.
On Oct 9 last year, Koda was booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). With him were three former ministers as well as Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary.
- Koda scam: Soren's secretary, other officials raided (Second Lead) - Feb 16, 2010
- Koda scam: Raids continue, over Rs.1 crore cash seized - Feb 18, 2010
- Koda scam: Raids continue, valuable documents seized - Feb 17, 2010
- Court stays transfer of officer probing Koda scam (Lead) - Feb 23, 2010
- Koda waived off aide's Rs.10 crore power bill: CBI source - Jun 03, 2011
- Tax officer heading Madhu Koda probe to stay: Court - Feb 23, 2010
- Koda scam accused sent to 10 days' CBI custody (Lead) - Sep 18, 2010
- Koda scam may be handed over to CBI - Jul 12, 2010
- Raids on Soren's personal secretary, other officials - Feb 16, 2010
- Income tax director to stay as Koda scam investigator - Oct 01, 2010
- Rs.300 crore-worth properties of Koda, others seized - Dec 24, 2010
- CBI files first charge sheet against Koda in graft case - Nov 13, 2010
- Two hawala traders linked to Koda money laundering scam nabbed - Aug 12, 2010
- Koda aide remanded in ED custody for 12 days - Nov 19, 2010
- Koda's bail plea rejected - Jul 02, 2010
Tags: bureaucrat, central bureau of investigation, chairmen, chief minister, coal company, indian administrative service, jaishankar, jamshedpur, jewellery shops, jharkhand state electricity board, personal secretary, rs 2, rural electrification, senior officials, shibu soren, state electricity board, tax director, three houses, vinod, west bengal