ED attaches fresh assets in UP scholarship ‘scam’ money laundering case

PTI, Sep 30, 2023, 8:03 AM IST

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached plots, a flat and bank deposits worth Rs 2.84 crore in a case linked to alleged embezzlement of Rs 75 crore scholarship funds meant for economically weaker, minority category and specially-abled students, by some educational institutes in Uttar Pradesh.

A provisional order for attaching seven plots worth Rs 76,83,000 in the name of Syed Ishrat Hussain Jafri, one flat worth Rs 52,00,000 in his wife Rachna Jafri’s name, two plots worth Rs 76,55,000 of Praveen Singh Chauhan and a plot worth Rs 24,00,000 in name of his wife Hema Singh, has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It also ordered attaching a plot worth Rs 35,50,000 in the name of Ram and Shyam Educational Society purchased by Ravi Prakash Gupta and Rs 19,69,000 in Vikram Nag’s bank account, under the PMLA. The total value of these assets is Rs 2.84 crore, the ED said in a statement.

Earlier, in this case, the agency had attached properties of Rs 3.24 crore, arrested four people and also filed a chargesheet.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Uttar Pradesh Police, the ED said in a statement.

Managers and trustees of Hygia Group of Institutes and SS group of Institutes got admission of “fake” students in their institutes for namesake and applied for scholarships in their names on the government portal, the agency alleged.

The scholarship received was transferred to accounts of colleges and thereafter withdrawn in cash or transferred to personal accounts, thus, resulting in embezzlement of government funds running in crores, it alleged.

The scholarship is provided by central and state governments to facilitate the education of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), PH (physically handicapped or specially-abled) candidates, students from minority communities and those belonging to economically weaker sections of the society in UP.