ED summons TMC MP K D Singh in Rs 1,900 cr ponzi scam probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Trinamool Congress MP K D Singh in connection with its money laundering probe into an alleged ponzi scam case pegged at over Rs 1,900 crore.
According to official sources, Singh, the TMC's Rajya Sabha member, has been summoned here tomorrow by the investigating officer (IO) of the case.
The MP has been summoned under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the IO is expected to record his statement, they said.
Phone call and SMS sent by PTI to the TMC MP went unanswered.
The ED's probe against Singh and his firm Ms Alchemist Infra Realty Limited dates back to September 2016 when it filed a criminal case under the PMLA taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed against the company, its directors and others by market regulator SEBI.

It is alleged that the company launched an illegal 'collective investment scheme', also called a ponzi or chit fund scheme, and mobilised funds of about Rs 1,916 crore from the public in the years preceding 2015.

The firm allegedly launched the scheme "without the approval" of the SEBI and led to cheating of gullible investors.
In 2015, the firm had informed the SEBI that it had refunded Rs 1,077 crore after the market regulator's investigation and had sought more time to restore the rest of the amount, which was turned down by the SEBI.
Subsequently, a charge sheet was filed by it before the Patiala House court here in 2016.

The ED has questioned a number of officials and people linked to the realty firm and it now wants to question the MP as it is alleged that he was the "main person" behind these operations.
The central probe agency has also written to banks, the Registrar of Companies and the income tax department to obtain more information about the financial transactions of the company and those associated with it, sources said.