The Enforcement Directorate has frozen 90 bank accounts in a major crackdown on a Rs 590 crore money laundering scheme involving Haryana government funds and IDFC First Bank, highlighting the use of shell companies and fraudulent gold transactions.
Key Points
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze 90 bank accounts in connection with a Rs 590 crore money laundering case involving Haryana government funds.
- The alleged scam involved routing funds through shell companies and creating bogus billing for gold purchases.
- Searches were conducted across multiple locations, including Chandigarh, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, uncovering digital and documentary evidence.
- Former IDFC First Bank employees are implicated in the scam, with proceeds of crime allegedly transferred to their accounts.
- The ED's action follows a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an FIR by the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has frozen 90 bank accounts following recent searches in the IDFC First Bank-linked money laundering case where Rs 590 crore of Haryana government funds are alleged to have been siphoned off.
The federal probe agency claimed that the alleged fraud's modus operandi includes using multiple shell (dummy) companies and bogus billing for gold purchases.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches in the Chandigarh Tricity (Chandigarh, Mohali in Punjab and Panchkula in Haryana), Gurugram (Haryana) and Bengalauru (Karnataka) covering a total of 19 premises on March 11.
It was found that the accused embezzled public money by routing and layering funds across multiple shell entities, the ED said in a statement.
Most of the funds have been channelled through the bank accounts of jewellers to create an illusion of gold purchase through bogus billing, it said.
Key Players and Modus Operandi
It identified a shell company involved in the case as Swastik Desh Projects Pvt Ltd, whose partners are Swati Singla and Abhishek Singla.
The scam was perpetrated over the last year with assistance from former employees of the bank, including Ribhav Rishi, it said. The "proceeds of crime" were "dissipated" to the account of Rishi and his wife Divya Arora, as per the agency.
"During searches, more than 90 bank accounts have been frozen, and incriminating material in the form of digital as well as documentary evidences have been seized," the ED said.
Legal Action and Arrests
The raids followed the registration of a case by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau FIR.
According to the Bureau, 11 accused have been arrested so far, including six bank employees, four private individuals, and a government official, as part of this investigation.
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