CBI Ex-Chief AP Singh To Be Booked For Money Laundering, Properties To Be Attached 

New Delhi: Former CBI director AP Singh is likely to be booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and his properties may be attached by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of money laundering. The charges stem from his involvement with controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

Qureshi was has already been questioned by the ED on his dealings with the former CBI director and some other public servants. A separate money laundering case has been registered against the meat exporter.

A senior ED official said the agency is in the process of registering a case under PMLA based on "concrete evidence" against Singh who has already been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act by the CBI in February last week. Singh headed CBI from 2010 to 2012.

A team of CBI officials had raided Singh's premises, besides those of two other individuals including a Hyderabad-based businessman and co-accused Moin Qureshi, on February 20. The action followed a communication from ED that a probe has been initiated against the former CBI chief. ED director Karnal Singh had last year written to CBI requesting registration of a case against Singh for his "dealings" with Qureshi.

A separate case against the former CBI chief is being filed to attach his properties and later confiscate them on approval of the adjudicating authorities.

On May 15 last year, The Indian Express had reported that Income Tax investigators had found Blackberry Messenger (BBM) exchanges between Qureshi and former CBI director AP Singh, raising questions of propriety and possible conflict of interest.

The messages, accessed by The Indian Express, indicated Singh and Qureshi knew each other well and that Singh allowed Qureshi to seek "help", including on behalf of people being probed by the CBI. The messages also show Qureshi apparently sought Singh’s help in connection with a business project linked to a top industrialist, for getting security clearance from the Intelligence Bureau director, and to reach out to union minister Kamal Nath for a Golf Club membership.