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Delhi Court Convicts Ex-NALCO Chief and Associates in Coal Tender Money Laundering Case

The verdict concludes a 14-year probe into coal procurement kickbacks with sentencing now pending under India’s anti-money laundering act.

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Overview

  • A Delhi special court on July 21 found former NALCO chairman Abhay Kumar Srivastava, his wife Chandni Srivastava, Bhushan Lal Bajaj and Anita Bajaj guilty under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
  • The Enforcement Directorate’s case filed in March 2014 built on a February 2011 CBI FIR alleging bribes linked to a 2010 tender for two lakh tonnes of wash coal at NALCO’s Angul power plant in Odisha.
  • Investigators say B L Bajaj acted as an intermediary to receive kickbacks from G S Bhatia, while Chandni Srivastava used forged documents to open a bank locker in Anita Bajaj’s name for ten 1 kg gold bars.
  • The court accepted the ED’s statutory presumption that seized assets worth ₹2.23 crore and recovered gold bars were proceeds of crime after extensive multi-agency evidence.
  • Sentencing is expected in the coming weeks with the PMLA prescribing up to seven years in prison and confiscation of attached assets.