Scholarship scam: ED attaches Rs 4.42 cr properties of KC Group, Una

Tribune News Service

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, April 1

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets of the KC Educational and Social Welfare Society, Una, worth Rs 4.42 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the post-matric scholarship scam.

The ED had initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The probe revealed that Rs 4.42 crore was fraudulently received in the guise of scholarships for students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

The investigation revealed that the society purchased land and constructed a building block by utilising the proceeds of the crime, generated through scholarships received fraudulently. Immovable properties in the form of two plots and a building block located at Pandoga in Una worth Rs 4.42 crore have been attached, say sources.

Earlier, physical verification by the CBI of the students listed for scholarships for the SC, ST and OBC categories by the KC Group of Institutions had revealed that there was no student and the list was fake.

CBI teams visited Bharmaur, Pangi, Chamba, parts of Kangra, Banjar and Manali in Kullu and found that around 800 to 1,000 students listed by the KC Group of Institutions did not exist and the group had taken scholarship money to the tune of Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore between 2012 and 2017 by faking lists of students.

Moreover, the same students were shown at Pandoga in Una as well as at Nawanshahr in Punjab. The Education Department had passed the lists without verification and released the scholarship money.

The CBI had registered a case under the IPC on May 8, 2019, and filed a chargesheet against 12 persons (six officials of the Directorate of Higher Education, five key functionaries of the KC Group of Institutions, Pandoga (Una), and the head cashier of the Central Bank of India, Nawanshahr) on March 30, 2020.

800 to 1,000 listed students did not exist: Probe

• The ED has attached two plots and a building block of KC Group of Institutions at Pandoga in Una worth Rs4.42 crore.
• The CBI probe has revealed that around 800 to 1,000 students listed by the KC Group did not exist.
• The group took scholarship money of Rs20 crore to Rs25 crore between 2012 and 2017 by faking lists of students.
• The Education Department passed the lists without verification and released the scholarship money.
• The CBI had registered a case under the IPC on May 8, 2019, and filed a chargesheet against 12 persons.

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