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Govt to invoke PMLA, Benami Act on corrupt
A former additional director also stashed his ill-gotten money in shell companies. ACB officials say that the cases clearly come under Money Laundering Prevention Act and this trend among some government officials is increasing recently. As per data, 26 disproportionate asset (DA) cases booked on government employees in the last six months and it was 51 in the last year. The number of trap cases a
Amaravati: As the corruption practices among some government officials in Andhra Pradesh seem to have taken a serious turn leading to white-collar crimes, the government, for the first time in the State, is reportedly considering using of Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Benami Act to crack down on corrupt officials in disproportionate assets cases. It is also considering to take the help of Income Tax department in investigating the cases.
Highlights:
- 26 disproportionate asset (DA) cases booked on government employees in the last six months which it was 51 in 2016.
- The number of trapped cases are 84 this year till now and it was 106 last year
In five corruption cases, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has found recently that white-collar officials are diverting their slush money to shell companies of their close associates. According to sources, a former engineer-in-chief has connection with 10 shell companies and former engineer-in-chief of another department diverted money into six shell companies.
A former additional director also stashed his ill-gotten money in shell companies. ACB officials say that the cases clearly come under Money Laundering Prevention Act and this trend among some government officials is increasing recently. As per data, 26 disproportionate asset (DA) cases booked on government employees in the last six months and it was 51 in the last year. The number of trap cases are 84 this year till now and it was 106 in 2016.
“The ACB is also analysing activities of corrupt officials and increasing surprise checks without any complaint and also booking DA cases” a senior ACB official said.
The Union Government recently cancelled registrations of above one lakh shell companies that help in hiding black money and around three lakh companies holding suspect dealing are under government scrutiny.
A senior officer, who was booked in DA case in June, investing around Rs 80,000 of his total salary of around Rs 1.25 lakh in Provident Fund account. He was reportedly found having connections with a shell company of his friend in Visakhapatnam which had been established in 2008-09. The company was projecting around 80 people as sub-contractors to the company. But, ACB reportedly found that some of them were borrowers who took money from a former official.
“We found several similarities between DA cases and white-collar crimes. Investigation in trap cases also leading to DA cases. This is the recent trend” a senior ACB official told The Hans India. ACB is reportedly considering over booking DA case on an officer who was trapped recently and DA case has already booked same case on a former police officer. ACB also appointed a chartered accountant for in-depth investigation into DA cases.
“In the past, investigation in DA cases had been closed on the day itself of conducting raids by ACB. But now, we are investigating the cases in all possible angles” said a senior officer.
By K Varaprasada Rao
