ED arrested former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP and businessman KD Singh in connection with an alleged money laundering case on 13 January. He has been arrested under various sections of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) and been sent to judicial custody till 16 January by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court.
Reacting to his arrest, TMC MP Saugata Roy told Hindustan Times, "I don't want to comment. Neither is KD Singh with the TMC anymore nor he is a MP now."
The ED had searched his premises several times, the last being in 2019. This was in connection with the investigations into the Alchemist Group case and an alleged housing society scam. The probe against him started in 2016. The agency is probing him as part of two money laundering cases linked to an alleged Rs 1,900 crore Ponzi scam.
Singh was the founder of the Alchemist group, and its chairman till 2012 after which he became Chairman Emeritus. In January 2019, the ED attached the firm's assets valued at over ₹ 239 crore. The agency has alleged that the company launched an illegal collective investment scheme and collected around Rs 1,916 crore from the public till 2015, NDTV reported.
KD Sigh was elected to Rajya Sabha on a Trinamool Congress ticket in April 2014 but party members sidelined him after the scam against him came up. His term ended in April last year.
Roy said that it was true that KD Singh ran a chit fund and was a member of TMC, but the party had no connections with him. Speaking to NDTV, Roy said, "I hope the Enforcement Directorate has acted according to the law -- that is, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. We should ensure that the CBI and the ED are not misused. But at the same time they have their rights. They have their powers according to the law.”
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