Recent developments have shed light on a significant financial irregularity involving Rs 72 crore allegedly deposited in fake accounts linked to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HSVP). The scandal implicates investments in property and other expenditures routed through various shell companies, including Unicity Construction. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) intensified its pursuit of justice on Tuesday, seizing Rs 19 lakh in cash and pertinent property documents during extensive searches conducted in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh as part of a money laundering investigation.
The probe into this multi-crore fraud extends to scrutinizing 115 bank accounts. The ED’s inquiry has unveiled that, in several instances, the official email account of the Haryana Urban Development Authority was utilized to instruct banks to make payments to different accounts, a practice that occurred approximately 50 times. Sunil Bansal, the then Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO), managed this official email.
The ED successfully traced the bank accounts used for these transactions, leading to the identification of around a dozen individuals involved in the financial transactions. Some of them are associated with the construction industry, while others appear to be economically disadvantaged.
HSVP became aware of the suspicious transfers from its account to certain individuals’ accounts. Former Chief Administrator Ajit Balaji Joshi initiated an internal investigation upon receiving this information. The internal probe revealed that payments totaling around Rs 72 crore had been executed in the accounts of about a dozen individuals, yet the corresponding documentation was absent from the authority’s records.
Despite an inquiry by the internal vigilance branch of the authority, significant details remained elusive. Subsequently, Ajit Balaji Joshi reported the findings to Chief Minister Manohar Lal, who promptly instructed the registration of an FIR. A formal complaint was subsequently filed with the Panchkula police, and notifications were sent to the State Vigilance Bureau and the ED.
Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED conducted raids at a total of 20 locations in Chandigarh, Panchkula, Zirakpur (Mohali) in Punjab, and Baddi and Solan in Himachal Pradesh.
The investigation has revealed that various individuals, firms, and companies exploited HSVP’s bank accounts, fraudulently siphoning government funds between 2015 and 2019. This illicit activity resulted in an approximate financial loss of Rs 72 crore to the government exchequer. The ED continues its rigorous efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice under the provisions of the PMLA.