New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday that it has attached assets to the tune of Rs 20.26 crore of Crystal Crop Protection Pvt Ltd (CCPL) in connection with a money laundering case.

The ED said in a statement that it has attached assets in the form of fixed deposits worth Rs 20.26 crore of CCPL under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED took over the probe on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI for commission against A.K. Singh, the then Joint Director, DGFT, Ahmedabad, Nand Kishore Agarwal, Ankur Agarwal, Mohit Kumar Goel, Directors of CCPL and others for committing fraud of Rs 20.26 crore with the government exchequer in connivance with the concerned public servants.

It was alleged that CCPL purchased duty free import authorisation (DFIA) licence from an exporter and used the same for claim of refund of terminal excise duty (TED) on local procurement of insecticides from Modern Papers, a Jammu based unit.

"The investigation revealed that the said DFIA licence entitled them refund of the terminal excise duty in case of local procurement. However, since CCPL had procured goods from the Jammu based unit, and since excise duty was exempted on the said goods, CCPL was not entitled for payment and subsequent refund of TED," the ED said.

It further said that CCPL had claimed refund of TED on such goods which were purchased by it prior to the issuance of the advance release order by the DGFT.

"Thus, by making fraudulent claims, CCPL got refund of TED to the tune of Rs 20.26 crore from the DGFT, Ahmedabad," it said.

The financial probe agency said that as the said refund amount has already been used by CCPL, fixed deposits to the tune of Rs 20.26 crore have been attached by the ED.