The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday morning arrested Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Amarendra Dhari Singh from New Delhi in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to a fertilizer scam case.
The #EnforcementDirectorate (@dir_ed) on Thursday morning arrested Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), MP A.D. Singh, in connection with a Fetilizer scam case. pic.twitter.com/owYjd8vEIV
— IANS Tweets (@ians_india) June 3, 2021
ED said that Singh has been arrested under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Singh was first taken for a medical examination and is now under interrogation at ED’s Delhi office.
Recently, the CBI had lodged a case against Singh after which the case was taken over by ED for further investigation. The agency had conducted raids at 12 locations in Delhi, Haryana and Mumbai in connection with the case.
The money laundering case is linked to a fertilizer import scam, in which CBI had filed a case against top officials of IFFCO and Indian Potash Limited limited. Amarendra Dhari Singh is a partner in Jyoti Trading Corporation, a firm linked to the scam.
Jyoti Group had come under the scanner last month when the CBI had filed a case against IFFCO chairman U S Awasthi, former MD of Indian Potash Limited Parvinder Singh Gahlaut and their sons for allegedly earning commission from overseas suppliers by inflating prices of imported fertilisers and claiming subsidies via a web of companies. CBI had alleged that Awasthi, Gahlaut, their family members and several others had received kickbacks of tens of millions of dollars.
Party sources claim that Singh has been a close aid of Lalu Prasad Yadav and was sent to the Rajya Sabha on his behest.
Who is A D Singh?
As per the election affidavit, Singh is a graduate of Kirori Mal College and resides in Defence Colony in Delhi.
Singh, who is involved in the export and import of fertilizers, has immovable property worth Rs 188.57 crore and movable property worth Rs 49.6 crore. He also owns land, apartments and offices in Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Mumbai.
Singh’s nomination for Rajya Sabha elections in March 2020 had taken most party leaders by surprise. RJD MLAs, who were present when Singh filed his nomination papers remarked that they have never met him.
His nomination was justified by RJD leader and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav who said, “The RJD is not just a Muslim-Yadav party. We give representations to all castes and religions.”
An RJD leader, however, had attributed Singh’s nomination to the fact that every party needs money in the election year.
