New Delhi, 30 September (H.S.):

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at eight premises across Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and the Delhi-NCR region in connection with an alleged fake corporate social responsibility (CSR) donation case involving Dr Dharmendra Kumar Chanderdev Singh and others.

Of the eight locations searched, five were in Maharashtra, while one premises each was covered in West Bengal, Gujarat and the Delhi-NCR region. The searches included premises linked to market operators, trustees and intermediaries. The investigation has reportedly uncovered an alleged fake CSR network involving transactions estimated at several hundred crore rupees.

The ED said it initiated the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, on the basis of FIR No. 1044/2026 registered on July 12 at Juhu Police Station in Greater Mumbai.

The FIR names Dharmendra Kumar Chanderdev Singh and includes offences under the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act, 1961, the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The case also includes offences corresponding to Sections 420, 467, 471 and 475 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, which are scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

According to the investigation, Singh allegedly did not possess a recognised medical qualification or registration with a medical council and had studied only up to Class XII. Despite this, he allegedly represented himself as a medical practitioner and used the title “doctor” for nearly three decades.

Investigators allege that Singh leveraged the credibility associated with the identity and title to establish and operate several charitable trusts and organisations. Through these entities, substantial CSR funds were allegedly mobilised from public sector undertakings and private companies for activities purportedly related to healthcare.

The investigation has identified what the ED describes as a network involving trusts, trustees, intermediaries, commission agents and equipment suppliers. The agency suspects that the network was allegedly used to systematically divert CSR funds.

According to the investigation, certain trusts were allegedly created or utilised primarily to receive CSR contributions from public sector undertakings. Proposals were submitted to these entities in the name of legitimate CSR projects. However, investigators allege that the projects were either only partially implemented or left incomplete despite receiving funding.

The investigation further alleges that invoices raised by equipment suppliers were inflated and that the excess funds were subsequently diverted through purportedly fictitious or shell entities. Intermediaries and brokers who allegedly facilitated the release of CSR funds and coordinated transactions were also paid commissions, according to the agency.

Investigators have also uncovered another alleged mechanism involving CSR funds received from private entities. Under this arrangement, a substantial portion of the CSR contribution was allegedly returned in cash to the contributing private entities, while the trusts retained a small commission.

The ED suspects that this arrangement was allegedly used to convert accounted CSR funds into unaccounted cash, effectively exploiting the CSR framework as a channel for the movement and recycling of funds.

According to the agency, transactions involving approximately Rs 200 crore in CSR funds are estimated to have taken place through the alleged mechanism.

The findings so far, the ED said, point to a large-scale system allegedly involving the diversion and subsequent recycling of CSR funds through a network of trusts, intermediaries and other entities. The investigation is continuing.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar