The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has attached 11 properties worth Rs 10.63 crore in Srinagar and Bandipora districts of Jammu and Kashmir in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
The case relates to alleged misuse of funds under the PMEGP and the attached properties were in possession of suppliers-cum-brokers and officials of J&K Bank, the central agency said in a statement. The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of FIRs of ACB and CBI, Srinagar, alleging misappropriation of PMEGP scheme’s loan amounts in criminal conspiracy with the PMEGP borrowers, officials of Sumbal Branch and Gamud Gadkhud Branch of J&K Bank and other unknown persons.
The agency said its probe found that a man named Hilal Ahmad Wani, along with some others, played a major role to avail PMEGP loans fraudulently using KYC and other documents of the borrowers and also using “fake” invoices of non-existing firms registered in the name of suppliers-cum-brokers and/or in the name of their family members.
This act was undertaken in alleged conspiracy with J&K Bank officials from the Sumbal and Gamud Gadkhud Branch, it said.
The accused persons cheated the bank and misappropriated funds to cause wrongful loss to the bank and corresponding wrongful gain to themselves, the ED said.
“Investigation revealed PMEGP loan amounts availed by projecting dummy PMEGP borrowers, by using fake invoices of non-exist firm/companies and in criminal conspiracy with bank officials branches Sumbal and Gamud Gadkhud of J&K Bank by private persons-cum-brokers,” it added.
During investigation, survey conducted at the Sumbal and Gamud Gadkhud branches of J&K Bank revealed 270 term loan accounts along with 270 working capital accounts pertaining to PMEGP scheme had turned NPA. The NPA amount was found to be Rs 32 crore, the ED said.
“The suspected proceeds derived from the scheduled offences were diverted through bank accounts in multiple transactions and part of it was utilised for construction/renovation of assets and personal enrichment,” it alleged.