TMC questions Centre over appointing tainted Prem Chand Garg to rice export board
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday launched a vitriolic attack on the BJP-led Central government after a trader prosecuted for forgery, embezzlement, criminal conspiracy, smuggling, illegal exports,and a Rs 1,000 crore bank fraud became the Union Commerce Ministry’s face for rice exports.
The ruling party in Bengal raised questions on how the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, headed by Piyush Goyal, has chosen Prem Chand Garg to organise the Central government’s Bharat International Rice Conference. This same man now also sits comfortably on the Non-Basmati Rice Development Fund Board as one of the three private trade representatives, Trinamool Congress said on social media.
In a post on X, Trinamool Congress stated: “So, who is Prem Chand Garg? A businessman? No. A patriot? Certainly not. A career criminal with a résumé soaked in scams, smuggling, and frauds, and therefore, the perfect match for @BJP4India’s idea of ‘New India’. Let’s look at this shining star of Modi’s ‘Viksit Bharat’”.
The ruling party in Bengal also questioned as to why the Centre has nominated Garg to a crucial rice export fund. In parallel, his son’s business of shipping rice picks up pace. When it comes to corruption, the Modi government truly has no competition, alleged Trinamool. Citing data, Trinamool Congress also claimed that in 2021, the CBI accused Prem Chand Garg and his wife of cheating a consortium of five banks, including SBI, of
Rs 979.15 crore. A special court in Karnataka found Garg guilty of being involved in the export of illegally extracted iron ore worth Rs 2,500 crore.
In the same mining scam, Garg alleged that the then CBI Director demanded a Rs 15 crore bribe in exchange for anticipatory bail. In late 2016 and early 2017, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and police arrested Garg and his son for smuggling duty-free gold and evading over Rs 17 crore in customs duties. Garg was also charged by Nigerian authorities, along with his son Devashish, for allegedly defrauding Ecobank Plc of approximately $4.2 million in 2015, Trinamool Congress alleged. “And this fugitive fraudster has been handpicked by Modi’s ministers. Truly, a man of such wondrous virtues deserves a place right next to @narendramodi,” Trinamool Congress wrote on X.
