- विज्ञापन -
Patna: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 24 immovable properties valued at Rs 8.02 crore linked to a scam involving the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) in Patna. The agency filed a prosecution complaint to seek confiscation of these assets and the conviction of the accused.
The case involves serious allegations of large-scale money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The Special PMLA Court in Patna has acknowledged the prosecution complaint brought forward by the ED.
Named in the complaint are several individuals, including advocates Bidyanand Singh, Parmanand Sinha, Kumari Rinki Sinha, Archana Sinha, Vijay Kumar, and Nirmala Kumari, along with M/s Harijag Business and Development Private Limited. They are accused of money laundering linked to fraudulent activities at the RCT.
The investigation originally began with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in Patna, focusing on criminal conspiracy and cheating under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 1860, as well as Section 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The scam centers on fraudulent death claims that were filed, processed, and adjudicated at the RCT in Patna. According to the FIR, a significant amount of the compensation decreed for legitimate claimants was misappropriated by the defendants.
The ED’s inquiry revealed that Advocate Bidyanand Singh and his associates managed over 900 claims, with decrees issued by Judge R.K. Mittal. The accused allegedly opened and controlled bank accounts in the names of claimants without their knowledge, illegally used their signatures and thumb imprints to divert claim payments into their personal accounts, resulting in a total fraudulent transfer of Rs 10.27 crore.
The attached properties are located in Patna, Nalanda, Gaya (Bihar), and New Delhi. Through their sophisticated scheme, the accused managed to divert significant compensation funds away from rightful claimants, highlighting pervasive corruption within the judicial claims process. The ED’s actions underscore a rigorous approach to combating money laundering and financial fraud.
