Madhu Koda

Ranchi, Feb. 9: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today moved the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Ranchi in a bid to club all money laundering cases against former chief minister Madhu Koda and his close associates.

“We have filed a petition before the PMLA court today, praying that since close associates of Koda — Vinod Kumar Sinha and his brother Vikas, managing director of Indo-Asahi Glass Company Vijay Joshi and Mumbai-based hawala operators Manoj Babulal Punamiya and Arvind Vyas — had got together to launder money out of the state during the time Koda was chief minister, all money laundering cases against the six accused should be allowed to be clubbed together,” senior ED counsel S.R. Das told The Telegraph.

A dossier compiled by ED revealed that a sum of Rs 3,549.72 crore was siphoned out of the state to foreign destinations and to other parts of the country during the period Koda was chief minister between 2006 and 2009. Whilst Koda has been accused of laundering Rs 1,340 crore, Vyas is accused of laundering Rs 1,020 crore, Vinod Sinha Rs 915.07 crore, Vikas Sinha Rs 46.03 crore and Vijay Joshi Rs 169.93 crore.

Das said the petition prayed that money laundering case against former minister Kamlesh Singh be treated as a separate case. “Since Singh was an Independent minister with successive chief ministers, he was responsible for laundering large sums of money generated by him during the period. Hence, his case cannot be clubbed with those pending against Koda and his aides,” he added.

The ED has accused Singh of laundering Rs 4.43 crore.

Das pointed out that the CBI has initiated extradition proceedings against another former Koda aide, Sanjay Choudhary, who was arrested in November from Dubai.

Meanwhile, charges against Koda and others could not be framed by the PMLA court today.