Bengaluru: Three held for misappropriation of funds sanctioned for students' overseas travel
Bengaluru (PTI): Three people, including two women employees of an educational institution have been arrested for allegedly misappropriating advance funds meant for students' overseas travel, police said on Wednesday.
A probe was launched based on a complaint lodged by a staff member of a reputed institution at Sadashivanagar police station here.
According to police, the complainant stated that two women working as temporary secretarial assistants at the institution had forged approval orders related to the advance funds meant for students' foreign travel.
"They allegedly edited and manipulated the approval documents, changed the students' bank account details, and diverted a total of Rs 1.9 crore in several installments to the bank accounts of their relatives and acquaintances, thereby misappropriating the institution's funds and committing criminal breach of trust and cheating," it stated.
"During the investigation, the police pursued multiple leads and gathered credible information from informants. On November 2, both women accused were taken into custody from their residences in Hesarugatta and Yeshwanthpur," a senior police officer said.
Upon interrogation, they confessed to their involvement in the crime and revealed the role of a male accomplice, he said.
"During detailed interrogation, they admitted that they had committed the offence with the intent of making quick financial gains. They further disclosed that they had transferred the embezzled funds to 16 different bank accounts belonging to their relatives and friends, and had used the money to purchase real estate, gold ornaments, and other valuables," the officer said.
Subsequently, on November 9, the third accused, residing near Arakere, Bannerghatta Road was also taken into custody, police said, adding the further investigation is underway.
"Between November 8 and 10, police recovered assets worth Rs 1 crore, including two plots of land valued at approximately Rs 70-80 lakh, 121 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 15 lakh, Rs 11 lakh in cash, and a car valued at Rs 10 lakh," police added.
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Illegal betting case: ED attaches ₹177 crore assets linked to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra
Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached assets worth ₹177.3 crore belonging to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra, also known as ‘Puppy’, and his associates in connection with an illegal online betting and gambling case, Deccan Herald reported.
According to the ED, the attached properties include immovable assets such as agricultural land and residential sites, along with other movable assets. The agency said these assets are believed to be proceeds of crime generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities.
The ED claimed that its investigation uncovered that Veerendra and his associates were the masterminds behind a nationwide illegal online betting network operating with the same modus operandi.
“The investigation has established that the accused generated substantial proceeds of crime by cheating the public through online betting and impersonation scams. In the scheme, unsuspecting players were induced to stake money on rigged illegal gaming websites, which functioned like online casinos. Their deposits, running into crores of rupees, were collected through payment gateways into designated payment aggregator accounts,” Deccan Herald quoted the agency as saying.
“The victims were initially shown fake winnings to build trust and were later blocked from withdrawing money. The investigation revealed the use of hundreds of mule accounts and multiple payment gateways for laundering the proceeds of crime,” the agency said.
Earlier, the ED carried out search and seizure operations at more than 60 locations across several states, during which large quantities of cash, gold bullion, gold and silver jewellery, vehicles, digital devices and incriminating documents were seized.
The ED also arrested Veerendra under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and a prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special PMLA court. Based on the evidence gathered, the agency has provisionally attached properties held directly and indirectly by him, which are believed to be linked to money laundering.
“With this, the ED has attached assets worth more than ₹320 crore in the present case under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. Further, during the course of the investigation, proceeds of crime exceeding ₹2,300 crore have been identified so far, which were generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities and subsequently laundered through multiple layers of transactions,” the agency said.
