Money laundering: ED files chargesheet against 3 lawyers

Patna: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday announced that it had filed a charge sheet against three lawyers and others in connection with a money laundering case involving the alleged siphoning of funds awarded to deceased persons' families by the Patna-based Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT).
As part of the probe, the agency has provisionally attached 24 immovable properties worth Rs 8 crore. Two of the three accused lawyers — Bidyanand Singh and Parmanand Sinha — were arrested by the ED a few months ago and remain in judicial custody. The third accused, Kumari Rinki Sinha, has also been named in the charge sheet.
The ED has sought the confiscation of these properties and the conviction of the accused, including lawyers Bidyanand Singh, Parmanand Sinha and Kumari Rinki Sinha as well as Archana Sinha, Vijay Kumar, Nirmala Kumari, and M/s Harijag Business and Development Pvt Ltd under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The Special Court (PMLA) in Patna took cognizance of the charge sheet on Friday.
The investigation was initiated based on FIRs filed by the CBI's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Patna, which highlighted large-scale irregularities in death claim cases processed at the RCT. The FIRs were lodged against unknown railway officials, as well as advocates Bidyanand Singh, Parmanand Sinha, and Vijay Kumar, under sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
According to the FIRs, in cases involving accidental death claims, only a fraction of the decreed amount actually reached the rightful claimants, while a significant portion was siphoned off by the accused.
The ED's investigation revealed that Bidyanand Singh and his team handled over 900 claims, where decrees and execution orders were issued by RCT Judge R K Mittal. It was found that the accused lawyers opened and operated bank accounts in the claimants' names without their knowledge. They allegedly forged signatures and thumb impressions to transfer compensation funds from the Railways into their own accounts or withdraw them in cash.
"From the investigation, it is revealed that a massive sum of Rs 10 crore was transferred from the claimants' bank accounts to those of the advocates – funds that constitute the proceeds of crime generated by them," the ED said.
"The advocates and their spouses acquired 24 immovable properties in their names and in the name of a company controlled by them. These assets, located in Patna, Nalanda, Gaya, and New Delhi, were purchased using the proceeds of crime to conceal their illicit origins and present them as legitimate," the agency added.
Around two months ago, searches were conducted at properties linked to the accused advocates and Judge R K Mittal. "Further investigation is on," the ED said.