The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a chargesheet against former chief minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda and his associates Binod Sinha and his brother Vikas Sinha,accusing them of violating the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by amassing property worth crores of rupees and making illegal investments in the country and abroad. The Enforcement Directorate filed the chargesheet at the Special Court,alleging that Koda and the Sinhas had amassed property worth more than Rs 181.80 crore and invested money in Bangalore,Jamshedpur and Mumbai,and in a foreign country,Liberia. According to the EDs chargesheet,they had made Rs 106-crore investments in fictitious companies; Rs 75 crore in share capital; and Rs 110.80 crore in several companies such as Arihant Tracon,Basudev Trading Company and Doyen Marketing Private Ltd. Since the PMLA was enacted in 2002,the ED had invoked it against these accused for the first time. But the Enforcement Directorates chargesheet against the former chief minister is the third of its type, as Jharkhands Vigilance Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have already chargesheeted him separately. Koda,who was denied bail,has been lodged at Birsa Munda Jail here since he was arrested by the states Vigilance Bureau on November 30,2009.
