ED attaches assets worth Rs 5.62cr in PMLA case

New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has attached immovable properties worth Rs 5.62 crore in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district in connection with a money laundering case.

The assets -- land and building, belonging to Seth Bialy Prasad Jain Educational Trust which runs Phonics Group of Institutions, Roorkee, were attached in by the ED in the course of its investigation into the SC/ST Scholarship scam case.

The ED initiated the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an FIR registered by Haridwar Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

During the investigation, it was learned that Phonics Group of Institutions, Roorkee had fraudulently received a huge amount of scholarship in the name of SC/ST students from Social Welfare Department, Haridwar from 2011-12 to 2014-2015.

"The institution had made false claims to obtain scholarships under SC/ST Scholarship Scheme which has been embezzled, siphoned off by the Phonics Group of Institutions, Roorkee run by Seth Bimal Prasad Jain Educational Trust, through its trustees, and caused huge financial loss to the public exchequer with wrongful gain to themselves," said the official.

The probe also revealed that the ill-gotten money was further diverted to either the bank accounts of Seth Bimal Prasad Jain Educational Trust or to other accounts of the college, utilised for the expenses of the trust and withdrawn in cash.

Property worth Rs 1.45 crore (land) situated in Haridwar belonging to Wali Gram Udhyog Vikas Sansthan, Roorkee which runs Techword Wali Gram Udhyog Vikas Sansthan, Group of Institutions, Roorkee has also been attached earlier in this case.

The total attachment in the case to date is Rs 7.07 crore.