Bombay:
The former acting president of the Kolhapur-based Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society (SCSES) and other accused had collected more than Rs 65 crore from medical aspirants for admission into a college run by the trust, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed it the lead has -leaf in the trunk.
The money collected from 350 medical aspirants was used to purchase property or for the accused’s personal use, the investigative agency claimed in the suit filed recently in the money laundering case.
According to the ED, the SCSES had collected the amount despite not having the necessary authorization from the Medical Council of India or Maharashtra University of Health Science for granting admission to the MBBS course.
The ED is investigating the case related to the defrauding of medical aspirants by the SCSES, in which the trust’s former working president Mahadev Deshmukh and his brother Appashaheb, the then secretary, were arrested.
The Deshmukh brothers are currently in judicial custody.
The investigative agency filed suit in a PMLA special court against Mahadev, three former officer carriers.
According to the indictment, Mahadev Deshmukh in collusion with the other accused had defrauded about 350 gullible students from 2011 to 2016 and collected about Rs 65.70 crore under the pretext of admission to MBBS course in the college called Institute of Medical Science and Research (IMSR ) run by the SCSES.
The accused assured the students of granting admission despite the association not having permission from the Medical Council of India and Maharastra University of Health Science, it said.
The students were denied admission, nor were their fees refunded, it said.
The funds were reportedly collected in cash and shown as hospital income and integrated into the financial system through seven bank accounts of the society and colleges, it said.
The ED has also claimed that the money was further tiered in the form of salaries, administrative fees, construction payments, medical equipment purchases, etc.
The proceeds of crime were used to purchase movable and immovable property or for personal use, it said.
Meanwhile, the current SCSES director Arun Gore claimed in his statement to the ED that after he joined as director of the charitable educational trust, many students approached the new board with their grievances.
It came to light that the earlier board had taken cash from about 750 students and given them a false guarantee that they would be admitted, Gore’s statement said.
According to the expense sheet, he submitted a list of those students and details of the cash collected from 720 students.
The principal also claimed that when the aggrieved students approached the earlier board of directors, they issued checks in their name. However, those checks were refused and the students filed a case under section 420 (fraud) of the IPC and the negotiable instruments law.
The students deposited cash with Maruti Shankar Shitole and Kiran Dhumal, the then administrative officer and senior clerk, respectively. The duo gave the money raised to brothers Deshmukh and Mohammad Shad Siddiqui, the then secretary, Gore said in his statement.
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