ED files charge sheet in Jharkhand chit fund scam probe

A charge sheet has been filed under the anti-money laundering law in connection with an alleged multi-crore chit fund scam in Jharkhand, the ED said on Wednesday. Eight accused have been named in the prosecution complaint, filed under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), including the main company -- DJN Commodities, it said in a statement.

The Ranchi-based special court took cognisance of the charge sheet on Tuesday, the agency said.

DJN Commodities and its proprietors -- late Jitendra Mohan Sinha and Vishal Kumar Sinha -- were booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after studying an FIR filed by the Jharkhand Police under various sections of the IPC for "cheating" innocent people by investing in the chit fund company (DJN Commodities) and by assuring a "lucrative" return of 3-4 per cent per month, the ED said.


The probe found that "Vishal Kumar Sinha in criminal conspiracy with late Jitendra Mohan Sinha, Prashant Kumar, Ivaturi Santosh, Vivek Sinha, Anand Mohan Sinha and Bipin Kumar had opened 43 branches of DJN Commodities in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Assam without informing the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX)."

"68 bank accounts in the name of accused persons, other companies/ firms were opened to siphon off the proceeds of crime," it alleged.

The promoters, it said, received investor's money in these bank accounts and "diverted" it to other associated companies/firms of the DJN Group and later utilised the funds for their personal use.

The federal agency said the total proceeds of crime in the case stands at Rs 67.37 crore.

It said assets worth Rs 1.66 crore of the accused were attached by it in December, 2019.