ED raids Delhi on suspected irregularities and misappropriation of funds

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate conducted a huge raid in Delhi today. This raid had been carried out in conjunction with money laundering in a case involving suspected irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the Delhi Jal Board. The ED raided 12 locations in Delhi and Kerala on Monday as part of its investigation. According to sources, the investigative agency seized various documents during the raid. During the raid, the investigating agency also acquired technical evidence. As per the FIR filed in this case, the rigging was carried out with the knowledge of Delhi Jal Board officials and Corporation Bank (now Union Bank) officials.

The Anti-Corruption Branch of Delhi filed a FIR in November 2022. In this FIR, the Delhi Jal Board is accused of misappropriating Rs 20 crore in funds. The investigation into the alleged Delhi Jal Board scandal has now reached Kerala. In the case of the alleged 20-crore scam at the Delhi Jal Board, it is claimed that the company with which the board had a tie-up was collecting bills from customers even after the contract had expired.

This contract was reported to be from 2012 to 10 October 2019. However, even after the contract period had expired, a company called Aurrum e-payment continued to take money from the people.There have been suspicions that, in addition to bank officials, certain brokers and Delhi Jal Board officials are also implicated in the crores of rupees scam.

The Enforcement Directorate is investigating this alleged scam from the standpoint of money laundering, and raids have been conducted from Delhi to Kerala as part of this probe.The whole matter is related to the payment of a water bill. Union Bank of India was tasked with bill collection in this regard. This bill payment was to be made via e-kiosk so that users would not have any difficulty paying the bill. Following that, the bank granted the contract to a company called Fresh Pay IT Solutions. Fresh Pay IT Solutions then handed the contract to another company called Aurrum e-Payments Pvt Ltd.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau released a press release this year stating that this contract was due till October 2019, yet Aurrum e-Payments Pvt Ltd took the money until March 2020. According to the statement, Aurrum collected the money from kiosks installed throughout Delhi and sent it to the office in Connaught Place.After that, they took the amount they collected in cash and deposited the rest of it into its Federal Bank account. This money has now been squandered. People aware of this matter say that in further investigation there may be revelations regarding shell companies as well.