Mumbai, October 5, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized Rs 21 lakh in cash and digital evidence during searches at eight locations across Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Delhi-NCR in connection with an alleged Rs 200-crore bogus Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) donation racket.
The searches were conducted on October 1 by the ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office-I under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a case involving Dharmendra Kumar Chandraveer Singh and others.
According to the ED, the searches prima facie uncovered a network involving charitable trusts, trustees, CSR agents, intermediaries and equipment suppliers allegedly engaged in diverting and recycling CSR funds.
The money-laundering investigation was initiated following an FIR registered at Juhu Police Station against Singh under provisions of the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act, 1961, the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The case includes offences corresponding to Sections 420, 467, 471 and 475 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, which are scheduled offences under the PMLA.
The ED alleged that Singh, despite having no recognised medical qualification or registration with a medical council and having studied only up to Class XII, represented himself as a doctor and used the title for nearly three decades.
Investigators alleged that Singh subsequently established and operated charitable trusts and other entities involved in purported healthcare-related CSR activities. At least 40 public sector undertakings and public sector banks allegedly contributed CSR funds to these trusts.
The agency alleged that several projects were either only partially implemented or not executed in proportion to the funds received. It also alleged that vendor bills were inflated and excess funds routed through bogus or shell entities, with commissions and kickbacks allegedly paid to intermediaries.
According to the ED, the trusts were presented as channels for financing the purchase of high-end medical equipment for hospitals and healthcare institutions. When institutions cited financial constraints, they were allegedly connected with public representatives who recommended that the projects receive CSR funding through Singh’s trusts.
The investigation further alleged that private companies received a substantial portion of their CSR contributions back in cash after deduction of commissions.
The ED said its searches also uncovered a network of CSR agents and intermediaries who allegedly channelled funds to the trusts before the money was routed through shell entities controlled by market operators. Several of these entities had also allegedly figured in GST fraud investigations.
The agency alleged that the mechanism was used to convert accounted CSR funds into unaccounted cash and estimated that around Rs 200 crore had been routed through the network.
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