Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Deepak Singla (40), the party’s Goa in-charge, will remain in judicial custody after a Special PMLA Court in Panchkula dismissed his bail application in a money laundering case linked to an alleged ₹155-crore bank fraud.Forged bills of entry, bills of lading and other import documents were allegedly used to siphon off funds. (HT File)Singla was arrested by the enforcement directorate (ED) on May 18, 2026, in connection with an enforcement case information report (ECIR) registered on September 5, 2019. The case stems from a first information report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 8, 2018, on a complaint by the assistant general manager of the Oriental Bank of Commerce.According to the prosecution, M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt. Ltd. had set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore that availed credit facilities from Singapore-based banks backed by standby letters of credit issued by a consortium of banks in India. The company allegedly conspired with others to fraudulently enhance foreign letters of credit (FLCs) through unauthorised SWIFT amendments without corresponding entries in the Finacle banking system, causing a loss of about ₹155.21 crore to Oriental Bank of Commerce.The investigation revealed that the FLCs were allegedly enhanced to ₹173.03 crore from the original value of ₹21.47 crore. Forged bills of entry, bills of lading and other import documents were allegedly used to siphon off funds.ED alleged that Deepak Singla, brother of co-accused Raman Singhal and nephew of main accused Ashok Kumar Mittal, played an active role in the conspiracy. Investigators claimed that Singla held directorial and managerial positions in entities linked to the fraud, including Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd and Traffic Media India Pvt Ltd, and was involved in layered financial transactions aimed at laundering proceeds of crime.The agency alleged that ₹2.82 crore was routed through accounts linked to Singla and other accused to conceal the origin of funds. During searches conducted on May 18, ED recovered ₹25 lakh in cash and 6,000 Singapore dollars from premises linked to him.While Singla’s counsel argued that he was never named as an accused in the original ECIR and that no fresh material justified his arrest, ED maintained that further investigation had uncovered incriminating evidence. The agency also told the court that digital evidence extracted from Singla’s seized mobile phone could necessitate further custodial interrogation.After hearing both sides, special judge (PMLA) Vijayant Sehgal held that Singla failed to satisfy the twin conditions for bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and dismissed the bail plea on June 6.