In a ₹250 crore money laundering case, the ED searches Jammu & Kashmir
The previous chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Bank Limited's premises was also searched.
The Srinagar premises where the Enforcement Directorate operation was carried out are being guarded by security personnel. File image Courtesy of Nisar Ahmed
According to authorities, the Enforcement Directorate searched six sites in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday in relation to a money laundering case worth ₹250 crore.
According to him, the previous chairman of Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Bank Limited's facilities were also searched. Officials have previously said that J&K Bank was involved in the situation.
According to officials, this scam was carried out under the fictitious River Jhelum Cooperative Housing Building Society moniker.
He claims that the ED's office in Srinagar carried out the operations using the search and seizure authority afforded to the federal investigative agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In the case against Hilal A. Mir, the executive director of the false housing society, Mohammad Shafi Dar, the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Bank Limited, and other individuals, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had already submitted a charge sheet. offenses defined in August 2020 by the Prevention of Corruption Act and applicable parts of the Indian Penal Code.
The ACB inquiry states that Mir applied to the Secretary, Cooperative, Administration Department of Cooperative Societies, requesting permission to provide Jammu and Kashmir Cooperative Bank Limited ₹300 crore in financial support. to acquire 37.5 acres of land outside of Srinagar in order to build a satellite township.
Standards were broken
To address the issue with the Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Bank, an application was sent to the Administrator of Cooperative Societies Jammu and Kashmir.
Consequently, the Jammu and Kashmir Cooperative Bank in Srinagar approved a ₹223 crore loan without following any official procedures, such as acquiring information on the balance sheet, profit and loss, account business, and activities of the organization. Information on the society's establishment, income tax returns, PAN numbers, and board resolutions.
An investigation showed that the River Jhelum Cooperative House Building Society had been not even listed with the Jammu and Kashmir Registrar Cooperative Societies, and that Mir, Dar, and other individuals had created a phony registration certificate in the society's name. and oversaw the loan approval process.
The landowners' accounts received the loan money, but the land is not mortgaged to the bank.
Additionally, the ACB's inquiry was successful in identifying the ₹223 crore that was improperly taken, and the Bureau has confiscated ₹187 crore.
