IANS | 12 Apr, 2024
The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached various assets
of "book value" of Rs 50.47 crore allegedly acquired out of Proceeds of
Crime (PoC) derived and obtained from PDS Ration Scam by several
persons including Jyoti Priya Mallick, the then Minister-In-Charge of
Food and Supply Department in West Bengal, and others.
An ED
official said that the market value of these seized properties from
Mallick, Bakibur Rahaman (rice and flour miller), Sankar Addhya, and
others, is estimated to be significantly more than Rs 150 crore.
"These
assets include 48 immovable properties of different persons and
entities, including a residential house in Salt Lake, Bolpur, belonging
to Mallick, several other 'benami properties' held in the names of his
close associates, two hotels owned by Rahaman in Kolkata and Bengaluru,
and balances in various bank accounts and fixed deposits," said ED in a
statement issued on Friday. Mallick, a minister in the government led by
Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, was dismissed from his position on
February 16 this year, months after his arrest in a multi-crore scam.
Mallick,
who was arrested in October last year by the ED, had also served as the
Minister of Food Supplies from 2011 to 2021 before assuming the role of
Minister of Forest Affairs and Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy.
The
ED said that it has also been found that Mallick has allegedly received
various immovable properties worth over crores of rupees as 'gifts'
without any consideration in the names of his family members or close
associates, which had been provisionally attached under the Prevention
of Money Laundering Act.
The ED had initiated an investigation
based on FIRs registered by the West Bengal Police, wherein various
private persons were found in unauthorised possession of rations meant
for delivery through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and were also
found to be involved in bogus procurement of paddy.
"During the
investigation, three important modus operandi were detected for the
generation of Proceeds of Crime (PoCs) related to the PDS scam, namely,
siphoning of PDS rations to the open market, mixing of old wheat flour
in fresh flour meant for PDS distribution, and bogus paddy procurement
at Minimum Support Price (MSP). It is suspected that in the PDS scam,
PoC was worth more than Rs 10,000 crore was generated," the ED said.
Rahaman,
Mallick, Sankar Addhya, and Biswajit Das were arrested under Section 19
of the PMLA, 2002, and all are currently in judicial custody.
It
has also been revealed during the investigation that a huge amount of
PoCs was laundered to Dubai and other countries by converting rupees
into foreign currencies through money changer companies owned or
controlled by Addhya, Das, and others.
"In this regard, a
prosecution complaint was filed in the Special Court (PMLA), Kolkata, on
December 12, 2023, and a supplementary prosecution complaint was filed
on March 5, 2024. Cognisance of both complaints has been taken by the
court," said an ED official.
"Further, a prayer has been made via
the aforementioned complaints for the confiscation of properties
acquired or obtained from Proceeds of Crime which includes 101 immovable
properties and balances in several bank accounts," the official added.