The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths, who are probing deep into the illegal assets of the corrupt officers, are now turning focus on the investments made in foreign countries.
After a trap or in a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, the ACB teams will search the officer’s houses, agriculture land, house sites, gold, diamond and silver ornaments, cash, household articles, vehicles and bank balances.
The investigating officers will raid the houses of the kin, benamis and well wishers of the accused too and unearth the ill-gotten properties.
But the ACB officials are not focussing on the huge investments the tainted officers make abroad through their family members. Recently, an officer who was booked by the ACB planned to celebrate his retirement function in Singapore, and made elaborate arrangements there.
“It was a fact that the sons, daughters, sons-in-law, brothers and friends of the accused officers were settled in Singapore, U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K. and other countries. But we are not looking into that angle, and there are chances of the illegal assets being transferred to foreign countries,” said an ACB officer.
“If the money is transferred through the bank accounts, we will have the record and evidence to book the accused. We will focus on foreign investments by the accused,” ACB Director General R.P. Thakur told The Hindu.
“In a couple of cases, the accused officers divorced their wives legally and invested in properties in their names. But they were staying together with them. We will seize the assets registered in the names of the divorced wives too,” Mr. Thakur said.
