Dainik India news Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) found in its investigation that some educational institutions in Uttar Pradesh have allegedly embezzled a scholarship amount of Rs 75 crore allocated for financially weak, minority and differently-abled students. On February 16, the central investigation agency raided 22 places across six districts in connection with the money laundering case related to obtaining scholarship after matriculation by various educational institutions in Uttar Pradesh. The case was initiated following a complaint by the State Vigilance Bureau in 2017. According to the statement released by ED on Friday, the institutions under its investigation include SS Institute of Management Mampur, Lucknow, Hyjia College of Pharmacy, Lucknow, Hyjia Institute of Pharmacy/Central Institute of Pharmacy, Lucknow, Lucknow Institute of Management and Education, Lucknow, and Dr. Om Prakash Gupta Institute of Management and Technology, Farrukhabad, along with Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Foundation and Jeevika College of Pharmacy, R P Inter College, Gyanvati Inter College and Jagdish Prasad Verma Higher Secondary School, Hardoi. The investigation is being conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Illegally Benefits Taken
He said that the control and management of the colleges of the Hajiya group are done by IH Jaffrey, O.P. Gupta Institute by Shivam Gupta, S.S. Institute by Praveen Kumar Chauhan and Jeevika College by Ram Gupta. ED has alleged that these institutes illegally took advantage of scholarships for ineligible candidates and embezzled money. ED said that scholarships are provided by central and state governments for the education of scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs), physically disabled or divyang candidates, and students belonging to minority communities and economically weaker sections.
ED Makes Serious Allegations
In the investigation, ED said that the scholarship scam has a significant social impact on the weaker sections of society. Describing the modus operandi, ED said that the scam was carried out with the active assistance of agents of Fino Payments Bank, including Mohammad Sahil Azeem, Amit Kumar Maurya, Tanveer Ahmad, Jitendra Singh, and Ravi Prakash Gupta. The agency said that they misused concessions in the process of opening accounts on the Fino Payments Bank platform. ED has alleged that the accused sent the proceeds of the crime to various bank accounts controlled by the owners of the institutes and related entities and individuals. In the investigation, it was found that to avail more scholarship amount, these colleges and institutes used bank accounts of children (between 7-12 years old) and those belonging to the age group of 45 years and above, using various people’s documents. ED said that so far it has been found in the investigation that these institutes have opened around 3,000 such accounts by using documents of various individuals. It said that most of these accounts are in the name of rural people whose identities are unknown, and they have never received any scholarship. However, the rule is that scholarship amount should be deposited in the bank accounts of students, but these institutes bypassed the rules and took the kit of the account from the agents of Fino Payments Bank directly under their control.
The government has accused an institution of embezzlement amounting to 75 crore rupees.
The ED claimed that in some cases, the institution and its employees successfully obtained ID and passwords of unauthorized Finno Bank agents and were able to use them, and also successfully ran the micro-ATM issued by the bank on the institution’s premises. It has been stated that the scholarship amount was withdrawn in cash from the accounts of students by the institutions. During the raids, the agency seized 36.51 lakh rupees and 956 US dollars along with a large number of sim cards, stamps and seals of various institutions. It stated that the institution was initially involved in forging various documents. The ED said that the apprehension of involvement in a crime of more than 75 crore rupees in the scholarship scam exists.
