ED seizes over Rs 20 cr in deposits cash in raids in Indore civic body fake bills case

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) Bank deposits and mutual funds worth more than Rs 20 crore have been frozen while Rs 1.20 crore in cash was seized during searches in a money laundering case linked to an alleged fake bills scam in the Indore Municipal Corporation, the ED said on Wednesday.
     The raids were made on August 5-6 at 20 locations in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, the central agency said in a statement.
     The probe found, the Enforcement Directorate said, that various contractors "in connivance" with the officials of the municipal corporation hatched a criminal conspiracy and generated alleged illicit funds by presenting "fake" bills of drainage construction work.
     The work, for which the fake bills were generated, were neither carried out on the ground, nor verified by the corporation's account and audit department, before the payment was made, it claimed.
     "The proceeds of crime generated by presenting the fake bills before the municipal corporation by various private contractors were laundered between them and various officials," it said.
     A number of "incriminating" documents, digital devices, and Rs 1.25 crore in unaccounted for cash was seized and bank deposits, fixed deposits, and investments in the form of mutual funds and equities worth Rs 20.8 crore were frozen after the searches, according to the ED.
     The money laundering case stems from a few FIRs filed by the Indore Police.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)