In a major crackdown on financial fraud, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally seized immovable assets valued at more than Rs 70 crore. This action is connected to a widespread liquor fake challan scam that has rocked Madhya Pradesh.
The Massive Asset Attachment
The Indore sub-zonal office of the ED issued the provisional attachment order targeting 28 properties. These assets, which include land parcels and flats, are situated in Indore, Mandsaur, and Khargone districts. According to an official press note, the attached properties belong to various liquor contractors and have a current market value exceeding Rs 70 Crore. The ED has identified these assets as proceeds of crime generated from the scam.
How the Fake Challan Scam Operated
The investigation, initiated from an FIR at Raoji police station in Indore, uncovered a sophisticated fraud that caused significant revenue loss to the state government. The accused liquor contractors executed the scam through a deceptive manipulation of official treasury challans.
The modus operandi involved a clever exploitation of the challan format. The contractors would initially prepare a challan for a small amount and deposit it in the bank. Crucially, in the prescribed format, while the minimal value was entered in the 'rupees in figures' column, the 'rupees in words' section was intentionally left blank.
After the deposit, the accused would fraudulently alter the challans. They increased the amount in the 'rupees in figures' column and then filled in the corresponding, much larger, fraudulent amount in the previously blank 'rupees in words' space.
Consequences and Current Status
Copies of these manipulated documents were submitted to country liquor warehouses or the district excise office for foreign liquor. By presenting this falsified proof of payment for duties like liquor duty, basic licence fee, or minimum guarantee, the contractors secured No Objection Certificates (NOCs). This allowed them to procure a vastly larger stock of liquor while paying only a fraction of the actual duty, leading to a colossal loss to the state exchequer.
The PMLA investigation established that prime accused Raju Dashwant and Ansh Trivedi, along with other contractors, were involved in the generation, possession, and projection of proceeds of crime exceeding Rs 49 crore. These funds were derived from scheduled offences including forgery, cheating, and criminal conspiracy.
The ED has already arrested the main accused, Dashwant and Trivedi, who are currently in judicial custody. Further investigation in the matter is under progress to unravel the full extent of the financial fraud and identify any other involved entities.
