Koda case: Former Jharkhand minister Ekka convicted for money laundering

 Former Jharkhand Minister Anosh Ekka has been convicted by a Jharkhand court on money-laundering charges in connection with the PMLA case against former Chief Minister Madhu Koda and others, officials said on Saturday.

They said the quantum of sentence for Ekka will be pronounced by the Ranchi court on March 31.

Ekka, a former minister in the cabinet of former CM Koda, has been convicted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case pertains to the money-laundering probe involving Koda and others and was unearthed by the Enforcement Directorate in September 2009 in which a number of arrests were made and assets worth hundreds of crores were attached.

This is the 11th conviction under the law enacted in 2002 and implemented from 2005.

Ekka has served as the rural development minister in the Koda Cabinet from 2006-08.

In 2014, ED had attached assets worth Rs 100 crore (market value) linked to him.

CBI earlier accused Ekka, his wife and others of possessing a disproportionate wealth of Rs 17 crore, allegedly acquired during his ministerial term in the Koda dispensation.

Ekka has represented Kolebira in Simdega district of Jharkhand as an MLA. The seat falls under the Khunti parliamentary constituency. He then represented Jharkhand Party (JKP).

Koda, Ekka, and others were being investigated by ED under PMLA charges for alleged possession of disproportionate assets and money laundering.

This is the second PMLA conviction in the Koda case as in 2017, former Jharkhand Minister Hari Narayan Rai was sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 5 lakh by a special court in Ranchi.

The ED had taken over this case after taking cognisance of a number of Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau FIRs and filed multiple charge sheets under PMLA.