Chandigarh, Sep 11 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed the bail plea of AAP leader Deepak Singla in a money-laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Singla was arrested by the ED on May 18.
The case stems from a CBI FIR registered in 2018 on a complaint from an assistant general manager of the erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce, alleging that Mahesh Timber Private Limited, through its Singapore-based subsidiary and in connivance with private persons and a bank official, fraudulently enhanced foreign letters of credit (FLCs) through unauthorised SWIFT amendments, without corresponding entries in the bank's Finacle system, causing an alleged wrongful loss of about Rs 155.21 crore to the bank.
The principal outstanding against the company was subsequently found to be Rs 239.46 crore. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed its chargesheet on August 10, 2020, following which the ED initiated proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The investigation allegedly found that FLCs were enhanced to Rs 173.03 crore against their original value of Rs 21.47 crore and that bills of entry, bills of lading and other import documents were forged to siphon off the funds.
Singla was arraigned as an accused in the ED's second supplementary prosecution complaint, with the prosecution alleging that he knowingly assisted the main accused in the concealment, layering and routing of proceeds of crime through his personal accounts and connected entities.
Opposing the plea, the counsel appearing in the matter for the ED told the court that the likelihood of the petitioner evading the process of law, if released on bail, cannot be ruled out at this stage.
The lawyer further said the petitioner's role is not at parity with some other co-accused, who have been afforded the concession of bail by the high court.
Rejecting the bail plea, Justice Sumeet Goel, in his order dated September 9, said, "... adverting to the factual conspectus of the petition in hand, the allegations against the petitioner are grave and serious in nature. From the material available on record, a specific role has been attributed to the petitioner in relation to the alleged activity connected with the proceeds of crime."
"The case of the respondent -- the ED -- is that the petitioner was associated with and exercised control over certain entities which were allegedly utilised for routing and movement of funds and he had an active role in the financial transactions forming part of the alleged money-laundering operation.
"Prima facie, the material relied upon by the prosecution, including the statements recorded during investigation, documentary and financial material and the transactions undertaken through entities allegedly connected with the main accused, cannot be discarded or disbelieved at this stage," the judge added.
He further observed that the allegations against the petitioner are not only with regard to his alleged association or nexus with the other accused, but upon his purported involvement in the transactions and activities which, according to the prosecution, were connected with the proceeds of crime.
The prosecution has specifically attributed to the petitioner a role concerning his association with Mahesh Timber Private Limited and allied entities, the alleged routing of funds through Sourabh Enterprises and Jai Durga Enterprises and the alleged transfer of substantial amounts through entities connected with the main accused, the court observed.
The material relied upon by the ED, at this stage, prima facie reflects that the role attributed to the petitioner is required to be examined in the context of the larger conspiracy and the alleged laundering of proceeds of crime, it said.
Furthermore, the plea that the petitioner was not arrayed as an accused in the predicate offence or in the earlier prosecution complaint, by itself, would not be sufficient to grant him the concession of bail at this stage, the court held.
