Originally Syndicated on June 27, 2023 @ 11:45 am
In connection with a money laundering inquiry into an accused fertilizer fraud, Ratul Puri, the nephew of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, was brought before a Delhi court.
According to the CBI, funds were obtained as commission from the fertilizer provider using hawala operators, middlemen, and group businesses owned by Rajiv Saxena, who is also a defendant in the Augusta-Westland case.
The ED investigation is the result of a CBI case in which the individuals in question participated in a criminal conspiracy between 2007 and 2014 to defraud IFFCO and Indian Potash Limited by falsely importing fertilizers and other supplies for the manufacturing of fertilizers at inflated rates and claiming greater subsidies from the central government, resulting in a loss in the range of crores of rupees.
The Enforcement Directorate asserts that the fertilizer scam case, which also requires Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha member Amarendra Dhari Singh and IFFCO managing director and CEO US Awasthi, is connected to allegedly illegal payments paid by foreign suppliers to Awasthi’s NRI sons, Indian Potash Ltd managing director PS Gahlaut, and other individuals for over $685 crore between 2007 and 2014.
Using hawala operators, middlemen, and group firms controlled by Rajiv Saxena, who is also a defendant in the AgustaWestland case, money was allegedly obtained as commission from fertilizer suppliers. Saxena is also a defendant in the AgustaWestland case. Puri was accused by the ED of assisting the accused by disguising the profits of the crime and passing them off as legitimate property.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act’s (PMLA’s) Sections 3 and 4 have been violated, the court finds, and an offense has been committed.
The court agreed with the ED’s accusations that Saxena gave continues of crime to individuals like Sanjay Jain, who participated directly in the activity of concealing proceeds of crime by combining it through the Saxena family of companies, the Alankit family of companies, Rayon Trading company, and Moser Baer India Ltd. company of Ratul Puri, “whereby he came into possession of an amount of Rs 78,39,82,343 which was nothing but continues of crime.”
The court did not, however, issue summonses to the additional five defendants because there was insufficient proof to do so.
When India’s ED had to Apprehend Ratul Puri
In the wake of a case of Rs 354 billion bank fraud brought by the Central Bank of India, the Enforcement Directorate detained Ratul Puri, a former executive director of Moser Baer and the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
After submitting a late-night money laundering complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Ratul Puri and others, the agency initiated the action based on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) FIR.
Ratul Puri was arrested early from his Delhi residence and will show up in front of a special ED court later on in the day.
The ED will ask the municipal court for Ratul Puri’s custody so they may question him regarding the bank fraud case the CBI has started.
The CBI has filed charges against Ratul Puri, his company, his father, Deepak Puri, who serves as managing director, as well as directors Nita Puri (Ratul’s mother and Kamal Nath’s sister), Sanjay Jain, and Vineet Sharma.
Among the six locations searched by the CBI were the residences and offices of the accused directors.
While his parents continued to serve on the board, Ratul Puri resigned from his post as executive director of Moser Baer in 2012, according to a statement from the Central Bank of India.
As an optical storage media, the company creates solid-state storage units, DVDs, and compact discs.
In the complaint, which is now a part of the CBI FIR, the bank said that it had been borrowing loans from multiple financial institutions since 2009 and had gone through restructuring its debts on numerous occasions.
After it failed to make the repayments, the Central Bank of India declared the account to be “fraud” on April 20, 2019.
The complainant bank was cheated by Ratul Puri through his company, according to the CBI case, resulting in an unfair gain for them and an unfair loss for the lending bank, which is a custodian of public monies.
As an optical storage media, the company creates solid-state storage units, DVDs, and compact discs. In the complaint, which is now a part of the CBI FIR, the bank said that it had been borrowing loans from multiple financial institutions since 2009 and had gone through restructuring its debts on numerous occasions.
After it failed to make the repayments, the Central Bank of India declared the account to be “fraud” on April 20, 2019. The complainant bank was cheated by Ratul Puri through his company, according to the CBI case, resulting in an unfair gain for them and an unfair loss for the lending bank, which is a custodian of public monies.
In the lawsuit, it is claimed that “MBIL has fraudulently inflicted loss to our bank to the tune of Rs 354.51 crore as on November 29, 2014, and interest thereon.” The ED also wants to question Ratul Puri as part of the inquiry into the sale of an AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter.
A Delhi court grants bail to businessman Ratul Puri in the fertilizer controversy
A Delhi court granted bail to Ratul Puri, the nephew of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case involving an alleged fertilizer sc
Special Judge Vikas Dhull granted Mr. Puri relief after he appeared in court as a consequence of a summons that had been issued against him.
The court called Mr. Puri on December 23 as it was taking note of an extra charge sheet in the case.
Ratul Puri, the nephew of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, was granted bail by a Delhi court in a money laundering case involving an alleged fertilizer scheme for which 685 crore was allegedly paid as a bribe.
Mr. Puri arrived in court after being served with an order, and Special Judge Vikas Dhull gave him relief.
On December 23, while it was noting a new charge sheet in the case, the court summoned Mr. Puri.
Mr. Puri is also a defendant in cases including the Moser Baer fraud and the AgustaWestland helicopter affair. He is currently out on bail and free.
According to the ED, the fertilizer scam case—which additionally involves RJD Rajya Sabha MP Amarendra Dhari Singh and IFFCO Managing Director and CEO U S Awasthi—is about purportedly illegal fees totaling more than 685 crores that were paid by foreign suppliers between 2007 and 2014 to Awasthi’s NRI sons, Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) Managing Director P S Gahlaut, and other people.
IPL, a division of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Limited (IFFCO), is a supplier of fertilizers for whom the government provides subsidies to keep the pricing affordable, according to the ED.
According to the allegations, Mr. Awasthi and other IFFCO members earned illegal income, built it up via many unconnected firms, and then transferred part of those revenues to the businesses they controlled.
Early Life of Puri
Ratul Puri received a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, mathematics, and computer science from the prominent international research institution Carnegie Mellon institution in Pittsburgh.
Ratul started his Power-generating business in 2008 in collaboration with Hindustan Power Projects. The Congress party’s Kamal Nath, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has a nephew by the name of Puri.
Ratul Puri characterizes himself as sociable given that he regularly attends the World Economic Forum, actively engages in the Forum, and serves as the head of the power committee for the CII-Northern Region. He jointly headed the Energy track at the India National Strategy Day and led the discussion on climate adaptation at the WEF in 2016, and he is a key proponent of the creative financing agenda.
Ratul Puri identifies as the Chairman of the Hindustan Power Projects Board of Directors.
In India, Ratul Puri established Hindustan Powerprojects Private Ltd. (HPPPL), a business that was formerly known as Moser Baer Projects Pvt. Ltd. For power generation, power trading, EPC, and renewable energy, it operates in the vertical markets of the thermal, solar, hydro, and mining sectors. With current assets of over 14,500 crores, the firm is India’s comprehensive electricity supplier with the highest pace of growth.
New Delhi, the nation’s capital, is where the business is headquartered. Additional thermal, hydro, and solar energy projects will be online by 2020, according to HPPPL. To activate more than 5000 MW of total power assets by 2017 at an expected investment of INR 32,000 crores, the business is well along in this process.
Ratul Puri is the organization’s chairman. Thermal’s CEO is Lajpat Shrivastav, India Solar Business’ CEO is Rajya Wardhan Ghei, New Business’ CEO is Arun Kanchan, and Strategy and Corporate Affairs President is Dr. Harish Ahuja. The head of the Hydro department is Awadh Bihari Giri.
Hindustan Powerprojects (HPPPL) has made plans for a unit IPO public. The company, sponsored by Blackstone Group LP (BX), intends to sell shares in its solar segment as it gears up to double investment in photovoltaic projects to $50 billion by 2016. The unit will have to invest $45 billion in a pipeline of projects over the next two years.
Summary:
With 20% of the global supply each, Russia and Belarus are key fertilizer providers. The problem is that because of the restrictions Belarus has been subjected to, its supply has been constrained. We also face issues with supply interruptions brought on by supply chain optimization, which has led to a decline in fertilizer exports from Belarus and Russia as well as a reduction in both countries’ fertilizer exports and domestic fertilizer output.
The fact that some fertilizers, particularly nitrogen-based fertilizers, require natural gas as their main input is another component of the problem. Due to the effect of the Ukraine war on natural gas supplies (and even before the war), there is currently a drop in the availability of fertilizers outside of Belarus and Russia. Additionally, we face other issues including export restrictions. As a result, we are today dealing with a global problem that is in some way tied to the conflict due to policies and growing prices for energy.
