Ludhiana resident gets 3-year RI in money laundering case

Tribune News Service

Mohali, March 13

The court of special CBI judge in Mohali has awarded three years rigorous imprisonment to Amandeep Singh, a resident of Ludhiana, besides imposing a fine of Rs 50,000 upon him in a money laundering case.

The court ruled that the prosecution had been able to prove that the accused had claimed “duty drawback” amounting to Rs 4.17 crore without actually exporting any goods, generated the proceeds of crime and subsequently laundered the same.

Following a complainant by the Chandigarh branch of the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case against 37 persons alleging that Amandeep Singh had forged export documents in connivance with custom officials.

Observing that the accused had failed to render any reasonable explanation regarding the receiving of the duty drawback fraudulently without exporting any goods, the court held that in his own statement recorded by the Enforcement Directorate, the accused admitted receiving of duty drawback without any export of goods at all.

The court observed that in his statement, the accused admitted of receiving the amount in question as duty drawbacks despite no export being made and he admitted spending of the said amount on purchase of a land measuring 3.25 acres in Ludhiana, a plot measuring 1,146 sq yards and 50 per cent share in a petrol pump. He kept Rs 80 lakh with another person and deposited Rs 15 lakh in two bank accounts.