The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted a detailed prosecution complaint exceeding 20,000 pages against 32 individuals linked to the alleged Rs 103.42 crore fake bill scam involving the Indore Municipal Corporation.
The accused include contractor beneficiaries, officials from the Indore Municipal Corporation, personnel from the local fund audit and Resident Audit Office, and other private individuals who allegedly assisted in concealing, possessing, layering, and utilising the proceeds of crime, according to a statement from the federal agency.
The prosecution complaint was filed on July 24 by the ED’s Indore sub-zonal office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, before the Special Court (PMLA) in Indore. The complaint seeks confiscation of attached, seized, and frozen properties connected to money laundering under the PMLA provisions. The court has issued notices and summons to the accused, and the matter is scheduled for further proceedings.
The ED’s investigation began following multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by the Police Station MG Road, Indore. These FIRs pertain to the fraudulent withdrawal of public funds from the Indore Municipal Corporation’s treasury through submitting fake bills, forged work orders, fabricated measurement books, false completion certificates, manipulated note-sheets, and other falsified records relating to works either not executed or previously completed under genuine work orders.
The investigation uncovered that various contractor firms, in collusion with officials of the IMC and the local fund audit and Resident Audit Office, prepared and processed forged work-order files and fake bills, thereby fraudulently siphoning off approximately Rs 103.42 crore from the IMC treasury.
“The fraudulently obtained funds were withdrawn in cash, distributed among contractors, public servants and other beneficiaries, transferred to related and associated entities under the guise of business transactions, intermingled with other funds and utilised for acquisition of movable and immovable assets and personal expenditure,” stated the ED.
During the investigation, the ED conducted searches at 20 locations on August 5 and 6, 2024, resulting in seizure and freezing of assets valued at around Rs 22.04 crore. These included cash, bank balances, fixed deposits, demat holdings, mutual funds, as well as recovery of incriminating documents and digital evidence.
Additionally, the ED has provisionally attached 52 immovable properties valued at approximately Rs 37.14 crore through two provisional attachment orders under the PMLA. These properties comprise commercial buildings, residential houses and plots, and agricultural land situated in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
So far, assets with an aggregate value of about Rs 59.18 crore have been provisionally attached, seized, or frozen in connection with the case.
In its ongoing investigation, the ED has arrested the alleged mastermind of the scam, Abhay Singh Rathore, along with Mohd Zakir and Rahul Badera, under Section 19 of the PMLA, 2002, for their central involvement in orchestrating and laundering the proceeds of crime.
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