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New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached residential property worth about Rs 1.84 crore of former district treasury officer (DTO) Satish Kumar in a money laundering case related to the large-scale pension fund fraud in Himachal Pradesh. The agency gave this information on Monday.
The attachment was made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
According to the ED, the attached immovable property includes a 200 square yard plot with a constructed house located in Sunny Enclave, Kharar in Mohali district of Punjab.
The agency initiated its investigation on the basis of an FIR lodged at police station Nahan against Kumar under various sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. He has already been convicted in this case by the Special Judge at Nahan in Sirmaur.
“A charge sheet has been filed in the case on May 31, 2023 and Satish Kumar has been convicted for the aforesaid offenses by the Honorable Special Judge, Sirmaur at Nahan,” the ED said in its press note.
The investigators found that Kumar, who served as DTO in Nahan between 2012 and 2018, manipulated the government’s e-pension software to withdraw funds meant for retired employees.
The ED said he transferred the pension amount to several bank accounts held in his name as well as in the names of his wife and children. During these years, a total of ₹1,68,66,371 payable to 95 pensioners was fraudulently deposited into these accounts.
“A total of Rs 1,68,66,371/- (proceeds of crime) for 95 pensioners were illegally deposited into these accounts,” the ED said.
The ED investigation further established that Satish Kumar used the proceeds of crime to purchase and construct a residential property in Sunny Enclave, Mohali, thereby presenting the tainted funds as untainted.
“The current market valuation of the property is Rs 1,84,91,651/-, hence the entire value of the proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 1,68,66,371/- has been provisionally attached under PMLA,” it said.
ED said that further investigation is underway.
–IANS
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