By IANS,
Lucknow : The Enforcement Directorate will take over the case of an alleged Rs.500 crore fraud by Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said Thursday.
Taking suo moto cognisance of the media reports, the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday sought all files relating to the First Information Report (FIR) registered against the high-profile politician, Singh told reporters here.
“Responding to a letter from the directorate, we are sending a copy of the entire FIR to them, even as the state’s own EOW (economic offences wing) will continue to hold a parallel inquiry into the alleged fraud,” he said.
The complaint made by lawyer and social activist Shiva Kant Tripathi has accused Amar Singh of amassing huge wealth during his stint as chairman of Uttar Pradesh Development Council during the last regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
He is alleged to have used surreptitious means to transfer his ill-gotten wealth into pocket companies that were first merged into a set of companies which in turn were merged into another set of companies.
More than 80 percent of shares of the six companies with assets worth around Rs.500 crore are allegedly held by him, his wife Pankaja Kumari Singh and his close associate and Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan.
Meanwhile, the state government has shot off a letter to Securities and Exchange Board of India to find out whether the companies related to the case were listed or not, officials said.
Another letter has been sent to the Department of Serious Fraud Investigation Office under the Union ministry of Corporate Affairs to look into the alleged fraud committed by Amar Singh.