The Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached ₹3.83 crore under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, from two bank accounts allegedly belonging to firms accused of cheating the Karnataka State Board of Wakfs.
According to a ED press statement issued on Monday, investigations into the forgery and cheating case registered by the State police led the ED sleuths to the two accounts belonging to a trading corporation and another private bank account of a car dealer in Kalyan Nagar, Pune.
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No deposit receipt
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According to the ED, the Karnataka State Board of Wakfs, Bengaluru, had issued two cheques of ₹4 crore for investing in fixed deposits based on a letter claiming to be from the bank manager of a private bank in Chickballapur. However, after no fixed-deposit receipt was received from the bank, the board learnt that the money had been transferred to the accounts of the trading corporation.
High-end car
The cheques issued by the board had been encashed and ₹4 crore was transferred to a realty firm on the same day, maintained by a private bank based in Edapally, Kochi.
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Further investigations revealed that the realty firm had purchased a high-end car by paying ₹1.1 crore to the car dealer in Pune, who had in turn deposited the money in the Edapally bank, and later into an account in Pune.
The balance amount of ₹2.73 crore, still available in the Edapally branch, was put back into the account of the trading corporation in Chickballapur.
The ED then attached provisionally ₹2.73 crore and ₹1.1 crore lying with the Pune-based bank.