New Delhi : The ED has attached a Chhattisgarh-based steel plant and its machinery worth Rs 206 crore in connection with its money laundering probe in the coal scam case.
The central probe agency said the plant is located in Dagori area in the Bilaspur district of the state and belongs to a company identified as Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited. A provisional attachment order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), attaching the Rs 206 crore worth assets of the steel plant has been issued by the Enforcement Directorate, it said, reports PTI.
The ED booked a criminal case against the firm and others to probe money laundering charges, based on a CBI FIR, registered to probe alleged irregularities in the coal blocks allocation. The CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet against the firm.
The agency, in a statement, said the company had obtained the Gare Palma-sub block IV/4 coal block ‘through fraudulent means by making misrepresentation and the company resorted to illegal use of coal mined in their captive power plant (CPP) without any permission from the central government.’
The agency said its investigation found that the company ‘had extracted 3.8 million tonnes of coal during the period 2006-2015 from the coal field allotted to it. It said the firm used the ‘entire’ coal mined from the block for production of steel and power in its plant and therefore, the profit accrued out of sale of such steel and power has been accumulated in the reserve and surplus of the company and the company, during the period under consideration, has expanded its production capacity and fixed assets.
