New Delhi/Itanagar, Nov 13 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached properties worth Rs 1.51 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a money laundering investigation against an IAS officer who had served as the Deputy Commissioner of Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district, and others, the central probe agency said on Friday.
The ED’s Itanagar Sub-Zonal office has provisionally attached immovable and movable properties having an aggregate assessed value of Rs 1.51 crore under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, in connection with a money laundering investigation against Padma Jaiswal, an IAS officer and others.
Jaiswal was the Deputy Commissioner of West Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh’s Bomdila. The properties have been attached after a Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) of November 13.
The ED said in a statement that the attached properties comprise a commercial property in Chandigarh, measuring 29.626 square yards, standing in the name of Vishu Bhanu Partap Mahto, brother of Padma Jaiswal, having an assessed fair market value of Rs 1.42 crore, and mutual fund investments amounting to Rs 9 lakh held in the name of Padma Jaiswal under SBI Multicap Fund-Regular – Growth.
The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Guwahati against Padma Jaiswal, Nor Bahadur Sonar, the then Finance and Accounts officer; Rinchin Phuntsok, the then Cashier; and others, for offences under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Subsequently, the CBI filed a charge sheet on August 30, 2024, before the Court of the Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) at Yupia in Arunachal Pradesh.
The ED investigation has revealed that Padma Jaiswal while functioning as Bomdila Deputy Commissioner in criminal conspiracy with other accused public servants, misappropriated government funds by fraudulently dissolving three government Deposit at Call Receipts (DCRs) and causing issuance of ten Demand Drafts aggregating to Rs 28 lakh in favour of private individuals by falsely portraying the transactions as government transactions, the ED said.
The diverted funds were subsequently routed and utilised in connection with acquisition of immovable properties in the names of her close relatives.
Further investigation has revealed that out of the total Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 28 lakh, an amount of Rs 19 lakh was diverted and utilised in connection with the acquisition of Booth No. 274 in Sector-40D at Chandigarh in the name of Vishu Bhanu Partap Mahto.
Examination of banking transactions, Demand Drafts and registered property documents established the financial trail linking the diverted government funds to the acquisition of the said property.
The present fair market value of the property, as assessed by a Registered valuer is Rs 1.42 crore.
The ED investigation has revealed that the remaining proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 9 lakh were diverted through three Demand Drafts in connection with the proposed acquisition of a plot at Sector-86 in Mohali in the name of Pooja Jaiswal, the daughter of Padma Jaiswal.
However, the proposed property transaction was subsequently cancelled and the property was not registered in her (Pooja Jaiswal) name.
Accordingly, mutual fund investments worth Rs 9 lakh held in the name of Padma Jaiswal have been provisionally attached as property representing the corresponding value of the remaining Proceeds of Crime.
Thus, ED investigation has identified total proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 28 lakh, generated through fraudulent diversion and misappropriation of government funds.
The aggregate present assessed value of the immovable and movable properties provisionally attached in the case is Rs 1.51 crore comprising the present fair market value of the Chandigarh property amounting to Rs 1.42 crore and mutual fund investments valued at Rs 9 lakh.
Further investigation is underway.
–IANS
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