Probe Agency ED Summons I-PAC Director In Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Rishi Raj Singh, a director of political consultancy firm I-PAC, for questioning on April 20 in a hawala transactions-linked money laundering case, officials said on Sunday.

The company, established in 2015, provides political consultancy to a number of political outfits including to the parties in power in two poll-bound states-- TMC (West Bengal) and DMK (Tamil Nadu).

It has three founding directors including Singh, Vinesh Chandel (arrested by the ED recently) and Pratik Jain.

Singh has been asked to depose on April 20 at the ED office in Delhi for questioning in the case related to alleged hawala transactions of funds received from political parties and other entities, the officials said.

His statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) once he deposes, they said.

Singh's premises in Bengaluru were raided by the ED on April 2 as part of this probe.

The federal probe agency had arrested Chandel in this case after his questioning in Delhi on April 13. He is currently in ED custody.

The probe stems from a Delhi Police FIR against the Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd (I-PAC) on charges of falsification of accounts and handling of unaccounted funds through its directors including Singh, Chandel and Jain, among others.

The ED earlier said it has come across "multiple" instances of alleged financial irregularities and various modes of "money laundering" by I-PAC, including receipt of accounted and unaccounted funds, receipt of unsecured loans without any business credentials, issuance of bogus bills and invoices, receipt of funds from third parties, and movement of cash through hawala channels.

It claimed I-PAC was involved in laundering about Rs 50 crore proceeds of crime.

This case is "linked" to the coal "scam" probe, the officials said.

Jain's premises and I-PAC's office in Kolkata was raided by the ED on January 8 in the coal "scam" case and the action courted controversy after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached these premises and took away certain documents claiming the ED was trying to take away its election strategy related documents.

The ED has approached the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court claiming "gross abuse of power" by the CM as it sought a CBI probe into this incident. 

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