Srijan scam: ED attaches NGO’s assets worth crores

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday attached assets, worth several crores, belonging to a Bhagalpur-based NGO in connection with its money-laundering probe into `1,000 crore Srijan scam in Bihar.

In a statement issued by the central probe agency here on Saturday, the ED said, “The attached assets belong to Bhagalpur (Bihar)-based NGO Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti (SMVSSL). The attached assets include 20 flats in Noida, Ghaziabad, Pune, Ranchi, Bhagalpur and Patna, 19 shops in Noida, Ghaziabad and Bhagalpur, 33 plots or houses in Bihar, a Volkswagen car and bank balance to the tune of `4.84 crore.” The NGO is under the scanner of the CBI and the ED.

The ED against SMVSSL issued a provisional order for attachment of the properties worth `14.32 crore, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED slapped moneylaundering charges in the case on the basis of a CBI FIR. The CBI has so far registered around 25 cases in connection with Srijan scam in which government funds worth several crores were allegedly embezzled by the accused NGO.

The ED said that its investigation found that “from 2003-04 funds to the tune of `557 crore were siphoned off from government accounts after being illegally transferred to the bank accounts of the NGO (Srijan)”. “Late Manorma Devi was the secretary of the society (NGO) since inception till her death on February 13, 2017.